Marble Falls & Limecreek Rd drive

Went to Austin for a drive through the hill country yesterday. Started a bit early around 9 from Houston. Expected to have about 5 cars but turned out to be just 3! A few ppl either canceled or just never showed up. Drove through I-10 and took 71 up to Austin. Weather was quite weird along the way, it stayed foggy around I-10 all the way until around Bastrop on 71. Quite a few drizzle along the way as well. Stopped at Bastrop around 11:15 and since we were making good time (meet time was supposedly 12 in Austin), it was decided to make a detour from Bastrop using FM 969 going through the country roads to Austin. Even with the small detour, still made it to Dave & Busters by 11:30.
There were 4 other cars from Austin by lunchtime. Had lunch at D&B, waited for a couple of guys that never made it, but .. they never did show up. By around 2, it was decided to start the drive. Ended up with only 5 cars going on the drive.
First, (Hope I can remember the route!) we started along FM 2244 then got into FM 962 towards Marble falls. The road was fun but no real hard turns. Had to staop at a small 'ghost town' to avoid being stuck behind a minivan for a while. Looked like a real ghost town with only a post office and an episcopal church there, no other houses in sight. Luckily, no real ghosts around at the time!! :-) ..
From the small town, went through a real country road, .. there was a time when we hit a stretch of dust and there was dust flying everywhere. Almost thought that someone went off the road!! Luckily, nothing bad there! I have to say I hate those cattle guard thingies on the road there. It just created this loud unsettling noises whenever we pass it, and the car felt a bit unsettled there!!
After that, got on 281 towards Marble falls, and after refueling, went north towards Park Road 4 .. that was a fun road! Quite a few times going up and down with quite a lot of elevation changes. Saw this 'castle' in the middle of nowhere, still wondering who owned it! Unfortunately, Ojas lost his side-scoop during the drive there. Tried to look for it but didn't find it.
Back to Austin, I believe through FM 1431. Fun road through the hills, unfortunately we were stuck between a few trucks, so couldn't really enjoy the twisties there. Close to Austin, we had to go through the famous Limecreek Rd. That was a lot of fun!! This was my second time through this road. This time. I was more 'prepared' and not as scared as the last time .. :-) .. Had to admit that I did make a mistake at one of the really sharp hairpins there. Tires were squealing as I tried to recover from the 'overshoot', but .. fortunately .. apart from a little shock, nothing bad happened. I just hate to think of what could have happened if there was another car on the other side at the time!
Driving home to Houston was quite boring and uneventful. Got home around 9:30 .. end of another fun day in the car .. and .. a sigh of relief that we all got home unscathed ..
Just hate the thought that now I'll have to clean the car!!! :-) ...