Ahhhhh... Warm weather!! It's about 70 degrees out when we hit the road for Austin. Our plan for the day was to visit a Zilker Metropolitan Park, the Umlauf Sculpture Gardens and the Texas State Capitol building in downtown Austin.
Once again we had our directions written down so we wouldn't get lost. We made it to Zilker Park with only a "little" difficulty and drove into a large parking area. There didn't seem to be any signs for park attractions so we continued to drive until we spotted a sign for the Umlauf Sculpture Garden. Success!!
Charles Umlauf was a 20th century sculptor from Chicago who moved to Austin and made it his home. Very prolific, his sculptures are found nationwide. Austin is a city very much in favor of public art so it isn't surprising to find his work all over the city. We visited with the curator for a while then toured the gardens. Very nicely done http://www.umlaufsculpture.org/ .
Before leaving the gardens we got directions to the swimming area at Barton Springs where we could get a map of the park. We drove to the Aquatic Center and walked through "Splash" and environmental exhibit that offers a fun and exciting learning experience deep inside a simulated limestone cave. Multimedia displays and interactive exhibits demonstrate how the Edwards Aquifer was formed and how it maintains its average daily flow of 32 million gallons of water at Barton Springs. Just outside the exhibit is Barton Springs Pool, a huge natural springs right in the middle of town. The water is 70 degrees year round and is a great place to cool your heels in the hot summer months. The Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs is the primary source of water for Austin. 
After leaving Barton springs we went to the Austin Botanical Gardens where we found a large garden divided into eight different ways plants grow and ways to grow plants -from full sun, partial sun, shaded, peekaboo sun spot gardens and even a butterfly garden. The gardens are on 18 acres of land dedicated to the gardeners of Austin. The gardens are beautiful even in winter. Several buildings from the original site have been retained including an old one room school house.From the Botanical gardens we traveled to the downtown area and grabbed lunch at a very nice Mexican Restaurant.
After lunch we found a parking spot directly across from the Capitol grounds and started our tour. Sited on one of Austin's highest points, the Capitol anchors the northern periphery of the downtown commercial district and commands a sweeping view towards the Colorado River from its southern façade. Completed in 1888 as the winning design from a national competition, the Capitol's style is Renaissance Revival, based on the architecture of 15th-century Italy and characterized by classical orders, round arches and symmetrical composition. The structural exterior is "sunset red" granite, quarried just 50 miles from the site. Additional structural support is provided by masonry walls and cast iron columns and beams. The foundation is limestone. Texas paid for the construction not in dollars, but in land: some three million acres in the Texas Panhandle that would later become the famous XIT Ranch. The Texas Capitol is the largest in gross square footage of all state capitols and is second in total size only to the National Capitol in Washington, D.C. Like several other state capitols, the 1888 Texas Capitol surpasses the National Capitol in height, rising almost 15 feet above its Washington counterpart. Once inside we were given a brief tour of the building and a little history of the founding of Texas. After the tour we walked around the grounds looking at the numerous monuments and sculptures before returning to our campsite.
To seel all our photos click on this link:
This side trip, 50 miles.
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