Not Flat Texas

Day 8: Saturday
Many people think Texas is flat, just like Flat Drew, and most of Texas is, but not Austin.


Here's a bunch of photos we took this weekend highlighting what we call the Hill Country of Texas.  This is just the beginning of it.  If you drive West from Austin, you'll be in the Hill Country for hours!

And the water you see here is the part of the Colorado river we call Lake Austin.  I know, I know; it's a little confusing when a river is a lake.

See the river boat in the picture above?


And in this next one, if you look closely, you can see the tall buildings of downtown in the distance.

And in this last one is what we call the 360 Bridge, one of my personal favorites.

Live Music

Day 7: Friday

When Northerners think of Texas, they usually think of cowboy boots, cowboy hats and longhorn cattle.  However, one of the things that Austin, TX is famous for is live music!

Yesterday, when I was hanging out with my friend visiting from California, we could hear live music all around us.  That's because this weekend is the Austin Reggae Festival at Auditorium Shores, right along the river across from downtown!

Here's a picture that I took when Flat Drew and I were at Auditorium Shores the other day.  That statue is of Stevie Ray Vaughan, considered one of the greatest guitarist of all time!


The Reggae Festival is big, but nothing like Austin City Limits (ACL), which takes place in Zilker Park in September.  During ACL, the music is so close, I can sit on my back porch and listen to it.


And then there is one of the biggest live music events in the world, South by Southwest (SXSW), which lasts nearly 2 weeks in March.


Flat Drew missed SXSW this year, so I let him listen to some of the music on my iPod.

I think he likes that song!  What do you think?

Austin Animals

Day 6: Thursday
More than 700,000 3-D humans live here in Austin, but they aren’t the only ones.  A number of animals live here too.  While out and about in Austin, Flat Drew and I took pictures of some of the animals that live near by.

The black birds above are called Grackles and sometimes you'll see hundreds of them hanging out in the same part of town squawking away.


And, of course, you know what this next picture is of!

The turtles love hanging out on a limb basking in the warm Texas sun!

And we can’t talk about animals without mentioned my sweet little boy Notte.  

Notte loves Flat Drew, but I don’t think he liked getting his picture taken!

Hike & Bike Trail

Day 5: Wednesday

For today's venture, Flat Drew climbed back into my backpack and together we went on a hike.

Austin is known for being a very physically active city and has a beautiful hike and bike trail that runs through downtown and along the river.  Here’s a picture Flat Drew took while we were walking.  I can’t believe that no one was behind us!

And right around the corner from that part of the trail is a bridge that crosses Barton Creek, a creek that runs past my neighborhood and into the Colorado River.
   

It is possible to rent a canoe or kayak on the creek and then head out into the river. In fact, Flat Drew took this next picture from the bridge and caught some rowers.

Along the hike and bike trail there are dog parks, baseball fields, volleyball courts, swimming pools, and plenty of wide open spaces, plus some spectacular city views.

And all of this is walking distance from my house!  Lucky me... and Flat Drew!

A River Runs through It

Day 4: Tuesday
Some people think of Texas as a hot, dry place and, well, it mostly is, but with beautiful rivers that run through it.

Here in Austin, we have the Colorado River and it runs right through the center of town.  A small dam on the east side of town creates what we call Town Lake (recently renamed to Lady Bird Lake in honor of the former First Lady).

While Flat Drew and I were on a walk, we snapped this photo of downtown across the Colorado.

Of course, we HAD to take a picture of Flat Drew also (he’s such a ham).

And, for those who are wondering, this Colorado River is not the same one that runs through Arizona and forms the Grand Canyon; it just has the same name.

The word “colorado” is Spanish for a color similar to red.  It doesn’t look red anymore, but it must have at one point.

A Windy day in Austin

Day 3:

Monday in Austin was another beautiful spring day.  At 72 degrees, it was cooler than normal for us.

And boy was it windy!  We had to make sure that Flat Drew was secured in my backpack to keep him safe.

Wind is not good for a flat person. Do you know what happens when a stiff wind catches a flat boy or girl by surprise?

Can you say KITE?

And speaking of kites... Austin has a kite festival every spring in Zilker Park, which is just down the road from where I live.  Here are a couple of pictures from this year’s festival, which was just a few weeks before Flat Drew's visit.

Maybe next year, Flat Drew will have to come back to Austin during the festival.  We’ll tie a string around his waist and let him fly along side all of the kites.

What do you think?  Do you think Flat Drew would like that?

Bluebonnets

Day 2: Sunday

When I was Flat Drew’s age, I lived in Danbury, CT right next door to Flat Drew’s hometown of Bethel. Whenever it rained this time of year, we would say,

“April Showers bring May Flowers”

Well, in Texas, you could almost say the opposite.  May is typically our rainiest month, and being that Texas is much further south, flowers bloom earlier here than in Connecticut.

In fact, most trees started growing their new leaves in March and now that it is early April, it is very green!  In this part of Texas, the most common trees are Oak, Cedar, and Pecan.

And this year, with all of the rain we had in the winter, the wild flowers are blooming in full force! The Texas state flower is the Bluebonnet and it is a tradition here to have a portrait taken among them.

So Flat Drew put on his best smile and climbed into a couple of patches for some photos.

What do you think; is he a handsome flat or what?

Since the Bluebonnets have been growing for nearly two weeks now, you can see that they are already taller than Flat Drew!

Do you know what your state flower is?