Villa de Vistas, Lake Travis outside of Austin

Wow.  That’s really the best way to put it.  First, we are in Lakeway, Texas, and it is a lovely little town in the Texas Hill Country and on Lake Travis.  Yes, there are hills in Texas, quite beautiful ones…just not in Dallas.  The house is absolutely wonderful!  Click on the link because I believe it will show you the “wow” better than I can say it.  We are enjoying luxury, I will tell you that!  Every little detail is perfect, from the decor to the soaps and shampoos in every shower. There are robes in every bath as well, and soft slippers.  Any game you could possibly think of to play is here! There are indoor games like billiards, board games, card games, and outdoor games, badminton (that’s us, haha), Bocce Ball, croquet….fishing, kayaking….all accoutrement are here.  Our hosts are thoughtful and delightful people as well, very helpful.

Our friends Lyn and Mark came for the first few days to hang out with us and our two Goldens, Luke and Lucy. Lyn kept saying there was no way to get her away from the villa, and actually, except for a trip to the H E B store for groceries, she didn’t leave!

The pool is so inviting, the views are marvelous, there are 3 gas grills, a fire pit, a hot tub….so you can see, there really is no reason to leave.  We have been in the pool, explored the grounds (vast, they even have an herb garden!), and enjoyed a movie in their Home Theater.  The Home Theater is amazing, and a post on its own.  We played a bit of ping pong, Mark and I against Lyn and Randy.

Yes, a little spouse swapping for the ping pong.  Mark and I were the victors!

How did we find this lovely oasis?  On 3rd Home.  3rd Home is a “club”, really, for those who own second homes.  I joined and put our villa in Cozumel into the club, Villa Coronado.  When you donate weeks to 3rd Home members you accrue “keys”, and the homes are rated from one key (for smaller homes) to 5 keys.  When you have keys you can open the door to any 3rd Home available!  Quite a wonderful deal.  Though I have donated several weeks in the past couple of years, Villa de Vistas is the first 3rd Home I’ve booked.  It won’t be the last!  Learn all about it at www.3rdhome.com.  If you have a second home in a wonderful location, you really should look into it!

3rd Homes can be found all over the world….except Antarctica!  And it wouldn’t surprise me if something was available there.  I have already booked another home for August, in Spicewood, Texas, also on Lake Travis.  The only drawback to the Lake is that it is 53 feet low.  There are docks at the marina I visited that are on dry land.  Someone needs to do a rain dance.

One of the most wonderful aspects of this trip has been having our Goldens with us.  Since our second home is in Mexico, we would have to fly our dogs there, and that is not an option for our doggies.  Luke and Lucy are both rescues, and have a few issues here and there.  Luke was abused, we don’t know how badly, but he cringes at the sound of a metal food bowl and refuses to get into a crate.  I did coax him in once….he completely broke the crate apart.  It is somewhat obvious that he is terrified of it.  So, no flying for Luke.  Our hosts at Villa de Vistas also have a Golden Retriever, and were kind enough to allow us to bring them as a special favor since this is our first 3rd Home trip.  Our little Lucy is a very nervous little girl, afraid and unsure of everything that exists on this earth.  She is afraid of trash cans, noises, other dogs, Christmas decorations….you name it!  She is the most adorable dog, and so pretty, but it is very tough to get her to relax.  They have both absolutely loved being here.  There is so much space and they have explored every inch of it.  Luke patrols our front windows at home in Dallas, alerting us of anyone in the vicinity.  I guess his territory includes the street because he barks up a storm at dogs on walks.  Here, he patrols the lake!

He is fascinated by every boat and jet ski that goes by…he doesn’t bark much about it, but his tail is up in the air, and he is on alert.  He has been up and down the outside staircases so often I’m feeding him extra food.  It has been so much fun to have them with us.  There are also deer around, I’ve seen them but the dogs haven’t.  I wonder what they would make of a deer?

We have had some amazing sunsets and we look forward to more of them!  Tomorrow, we are heading out to explore.  Hasta la Vista, baby!