Water & Bats

What an incredible day we had. Because of all the graduation ceremonies happening downtown we decided to stay away until evening. Just minutes down the road is McKinney State Park. It is where two creeks meet, Onion and Williamson Creeks. The first thing that catches your eyes is the huge slab of rock before you. Its pocketed with holes and waves from years and years of rushing water carving its signature in the rock.

We rode our bikes down this rock until we came upon Lower McKinney Falls. It dumps into this nice pool but before it does it also carves unique holes and curves into the rocks. To get to the Mountain Biking trails you must traverse the creek and rocks with your bike perched on your shoulder. Careful not to get your feet wet while you cross. Fortunately, the water level was low so that our rock jumping was made easier.

What is it about the sound of running water over rocks and falling water that brings that sense of calm over someone. You can sit, it seems, for hours just listening to those sounds.

On our ride, Reta spotted this small snake swimming along in one of the pools. I asked Peter, a snake Mr. Know It All, and he said he thought is was a King Snake. Non poisonous but enough for me to stay away.

Here we are. Finally a true mountain bike trail. Also known as Single Track because you can only fit one bike on the trail. We climbed big hills and were rewarded with long downhills that would take you through wooded areas or open plains lined with cactus and wildflowers. In all, we rode for 8 miles and climbed close to 100 feet during our travels.

Another reward was the field of wildflowers with butterflies kissing flowers.

After a day filled with pedal cranks, snakes, waterfalls and flowers we headed back to Road Hazard to get cleaned up and prepare for our next encounter with nature. Honestly, we were both quite excited about our next meeting because it would be the first time we had ever experienced anything like it.

Here, in the middle of a city of 718,000 people sits a normal looking bridge that spans the Colorado River.

Then as the hustle and bustle of the city starts to slow, you look out west and see the sun starting its descent behind the hills for the night. You start to hear and smell something different. It starts with just a few squeaks. The crowds start to get bigger along the bridge and along the river banks.

Then, people start paddling up the river on their canoes and kayaks to position themselves for a show with 1.5 million participants. There, you smell that? The smell of ammonia is caught up in the wind as these Mexican Free Tailed Bats start to wake up and get ready for their night out on the town. If you think about it, what is one of the first things you do when you wake up? That's right, use the bathroom. These bats are no different. That is the clue that the mass exodus is about to happen. The once quiet evening turns into the sound of flapping leather wings and squeaks as hundreds and thousands of bats start to emerge from under the cracks in the bridge.

Brace yourself because here they come. With close to 1.5 million of these little guys exiting it takes about 15 minutes. You look down from the bridge and all you see are these brown bats flying past you at a blurring speed. You wonder how they don't collide into each other as there is no lines or street signs on their highways.

As you look up towards the horizon you can see the swarm of bats disappear into the night sky as they head off to consume 30,000 pounds of insects in one night. Look at the picture below at about the height of the building being constructed and you can see a blurred line across the picture. That would be the swarm of bats.

We found ourselves trying to describe to each other what we had just witnessed but we always ended saying, "This is something that you must see yourself because words put together don't give you enough to appreciate the sight, sounds and smells".

After prying ourselves off the bridge we headed up to 6th Street where it is lined with Bars and Restaurants. We walked about 8 blocks and every bar that we passed had a live band playing. There are no DJ's here. Every type of music is being played. The crowds are starting to get thick as people make the difficult decisions on which place they want to go into. I wish I could have taken pictures as we were walking because you see all sorts of people. From Punk Rockers with their hair spiked up to an old man wearing a thong bikini.

Just up the street sits the Capital Building. All lit up at night as to announce that it is the biggest Capital building in the free land.

Enjoy the slide show as it has a mixture of our day.

Here is a video that I shot in hopes of giving you a better idea of the amount of bats taking flight.