Junie-come-lately here, I'm just now reading this thread !

Amanda, did you do that Bastrop ride? It was beautiful out there that morning! My enthusiasm dimmed a bit when I headed back north and found myself bucking a headwind the whole way back, but I was really taken by the countryside.

I've done much the ride you described in the OP, past the castle, caverns and Inks Lake, only we started from XMIL's house in Granite Shoals. I love riding in Burnet County.