Austin, Texas

Austin is a a high-tech city, with an economy based on computer related industries and state government. It is Texas' answer to Silicon Valley. The population of 1.45 million in the metro area includes 50,000 Texas Longhorns, students at the university. A cold front came through in the night and we nearly froze walking up Congress to take a self-guided tour of the capitol, a handsome pink-granite building which is the tallest state capitol. We made sure we walked all the steps from the basement to the top floor! I think Leon wanted a closer look at the inside of the dome. His new knee passed the test.

We strolled back down Congress past a sculpture of the woman who kept Sam Houston's army from moving the capitol from Austin.

Under the Congress Street bridge that crosses the Colorado River lives the largest urban colony of Mexican free-tailed bats which at sunset make their exodus in search of supper, but not in January.

Decorated guitars dotted the streets in keeping with the "live music capital of the world" nickname due to the large number of live music venues. We spotted quite a few of them on Sixth Street, the heart of Austin's nightlife. "Keep Austin Weird" is the well-known logo atop this guitar.

We spent the afternoon enjoying a great visit with my niece Kelly and her fiance Sean who recently moved his game company, Twisted Pixel, to the area. We stopped back in New Braunfels at Camping World for another camping part that didn't survive the freeze (a shower hose). Other people go to New Braunfels for apple strudel and German food!