Right after Tak proposed this thing is Austin, my little brother happened to call from Germany. He lived in San Antonio for awhile and also has a background in urban planning.
He claims that Austin has the world's largest colony of urban bats. They live under a bridge there that spans the Colorado River. They were deliberately introduced to control mosquitoes. He says watching them swarm out at dusk is a "must see" experience.
Right after Tak proposed this thing is Austin, my little brother happened to call from Germany. He lived in San Antonio for awhile and also has a background in urban planning.
He claims that Austin has the world's largest colony of urban bats. They live under a bridge there that spans the Colorado River. They were deliberately introduced to control mosquitoes. He says watching them swarm out at dusk is a "must see" experience.
Well, not quite.
More than a million of them live under the Congress Ave bridge in the summer. Late summer is the best time to see them. They've given birth, and the babies are big enough by that time to fly out with their mothers.
the bridge has all these deep narrow crevices under it, perfect for the bats. They all start coming out at the same time, just as the sun hits a certain point.
A few at first, then more and more and more until there's this veil of bats flying out and wafting away. It's tres cool.
hmm, Airfare from Cville to Austin aint bad. And hassle free. To DC and then non-stop to Austin. Hotel costs look reasonable.
We have played this game before, brethern, where we talk endlessly about selecting the dates that fit for everyone. But that will never happen. Eventually there needs to be a dictator who decrees that these are the dates: Join us if you can; sorry if you cant.
rjb, You are right, and we must set some dates in cement so we can start making flight and hotel plans. Last minute planning can cost a fortune.
Let's set the date for the first weekend of September, the 5th and 6th. I'll be there longer, so I'll expect I'll arrive in Austin on the 4th and leave on the 10th or 11th.
I need to contact my very old friend from my US Air Force days who lives in Terrell, TX, who said he'll drive up when I'm in Austin.
I'll make my reservations tomorrow.
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edgarblythe
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Fri 26 Jun, 2009 07:30 pm
@Sglass,
Sglass wrote:
i be golly darn, I must have said that wrong. I don't know if there are real and unreal Texans. But i do know there are native Texans and transplants.
myself, i was born in kilgore, texas and i am an oilfield brat.
but then there was a saying i've heard from childhood -
Dallas is where the East ends and Ft. Worth is where the West begins.
What about Dannon, is he still hanging out on the ecology thread.
I was born in a tent in the middle of a cotton patch, in Miles, Texas. Miles is 17 miles from Ballinger and 17 miles from San Angelo.
Apparently the Longhorns have a home game on Sept. 5. They will play the University of LA at Monroe. So there will be a football crowd in town.
Sept. 12 Longhorns will travel to Laramie to play the Wyoming Cowboys .
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cicerone imposter
1
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Sat 27 Jun, 2009 08:05 am
Made my airline and car reservations for September 4 thru 10. The rates were very reasonable, and the airplane still had many seats to choose from, so I picked 17c (isle) for both going and coming.
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cicerone imposter
1
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Sun 28 Jun, 2009 03:47 pm
I also wrote my friends in Texas to let them know the dates I'll be in Austin. I'm bringing some pictures of the US Air Force base I took in the late fifties when we were both stationed in Morocco.
