Eastern Texas Trip - Day 6

April 12, 2025 - Bones and Bats

Bats, bats, millions of bats. We arrived in Austin, Texas at about 6:00 this evening. After a quick dinner in the camper, we headed out for a ride around Lady Bird Lake on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike trail. It’s a neat trail with boardwalks that go out over the lake in spots. As we approached the South Congress Avenue bridge, we noticed people gathering. Some had chairs and blankets to sit on. We had googled Austin when planning our trip, so we realized that this must be the bat bridge. Every evening at dusk millions of bats emerge from under the bridge. It is the biggest colony of bats in North America. It was 7:25 and we heard someone say they would come out around 7:30. We thought, great, perfect timing, we’ll wait and see the bats. So, we waited and waited and waited. People were everywhere waiting for the bats, on the bridge, on the banks and in boats on the water. Dusk turned to twilight and finally at 8:10, the bats woke up. A river of tiny bats streamed up from under the bridge and overhead. It was very cool.

But now it was getting very dark, and we had two plus miles to ride back to the camper. Lucky the boardwalk sections had lights, but other areas were quite dark, and riding was treacherous. Not one of the smartest things we’ve done, but thankfully, we made it back to the camper safe and sound.

We started the day with bones. We visited the Waco Mammoth National Monument. The only way to go to the dig site is to take a tour led by a ranger. Our ranger did a great job explaining what was happening at the dig site and telling us about the mammoths being uncovered The Columbian Mammoths were here around 60,000 years ago. They are the biggest of the mammoths and an African elephant bull today would come up to a Columbian Mammoths ear! Along with numerous mammals, they have also found a saber tooth tigers tooth, a camel and tortoise at the site. Very interesting and well worth stopping to see.

Our next stop for the day was the LBJ Ranch National Park. Unfortunately, the “Taxes White House”, LBJ’s home on the ranch is closed for major renovations. We were able to take the driving tour around the ranch and read signs about LBJ and Lady Bird. We were planning on biking the ranch road, but when we saw the big cows with big horns we decided to pass on that plan, in hindsight, the cows might have been safer than the nighttime ride through Austin. We visited the grave site and the reconstruction of LBJ’s birthplace.

On our way out through the hill country we were surprised at the number of wineries in the area. In Johnson City we stopped at the LBJ historical home and the visitor center.

We are boon docking at a Cabela’s tonight because the campground nearest Austin is full. We have a reservation there for tomorrow.