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Woody Austin 1
Austin is rather green in it's backyard!Well, I'm in Austin, TX now since almost one week. And of course I haven't seen enough yet to give all kinds of information or make up a full relocation guide. Nevertheless, here are my first impressions.
You may be surprised to learn that I have never been to Texas before. First of all, for those of you who know nothing about Texas like me, Austin is the capital of the state of Texas. It is in the southern half of Texas but it's normally revered to as Central Texas. The whole area is home to an estimated population of about 1,4 million, half of them living within Austin city limits. If traveling by car you find Austin on the Interstate Highway 35 with Dallas to the north and San Antonio to the south. Older maps refer to it as US Route 81 as well. According to some sources this route should end north of Fort Worth but once was going down to Laredo,TX. Of course, this are only numbers, so don't worry about it!
My first impression is quite different from the usual “cliché” about Texas. No livestock (cattle crossing the streets), no cowboys (includes men or women
Woody Austin 2
Austin is rather green in it\'s backyard! in boots & hats) or tumbling weeds .. ehm, tumbling over the highway. Also no desert or dead, meager and empty landscapes. The whole surrounding area of Austin is astonishingly green and actually a woody part of Texas. I still don't know what kind of trees they are (Like Sam Cooke: Don't know much about biology) but according to street names or other signs most of it must be oak and cedar. But in between you will also see a bunch of cactus. Maybe it all looks different in summertime. Ultimately it is only spring (also in Texas)!
The area is also known as Hill Country. If you are only within Austin city limits you will not understand this. You have to go east toward Lake Travis and soon you will understand why they named it that way. You may even be reminded of San Francisco because the streets very often are paved straight into the hills which will either speed up you car or force automatic gear to shift down heavily. What is very interesting is that on some highways (not freeways) you see a lot of bikers. And I mean bikers on bicycles and not motorbikes. You
Cactus
"Surprise surprissssssssssss", said the balloon! really have to get used to this first. Lance Armstrong is from Texas and must have been training a lot around Austin, I guess! No wonder he was so successful because of this terrain.
The streets, specially freeways, are a little confusing in the beginning. At least it is for me now. There are a few more freeways beside the Interstate. But I'm sure I will catch up soon, though. And North of Austin Rt. 183 will be extended heavily. There are also such FM and RM routes which I have never noticed before in the states. These are so called Farm-to-Market or Ranch-to-Market* routes and finally labeled as Ranch Routes. I guess they served once exactly for that purpose but now some of them are fully developed highways or even freeways.
Downtown Austin is rather small and straightforward. The rest of this city, like many other cities in the states, lies all over the land like a huge pancake. But thanks to the freeways you need at most 20 minutes (excludes rush hour) to go from one end to the other. Something special to mention must be 6th Street. There is one music club after another and
Hill Country
Downhill we go! Austin calls itself the “Live Capital of the World”. Right now I have only been driving through though and cannot tell much about it. But I'm sure I will have something to write and show her soon.
This is my first impression. Next time I hope I can show and tell you something special about the Austin area.
* Corrected: Thanks to Walt!
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