Short post tonight...just logged 640 miles across Texas today on the trek from Austin, TX, where I woke up, to El Paso, TX, where I am sitting now.  So I'm pretty tired.  I will give specifics on some of the things I've seen in the past couple of days in a later post, but wanted to quickly touch on the general feel of places before it I misplace it somewhere in my brain.  

Austin, TX

First, thank you to Lauren Hoffer for letting me couch surf at her place, and to Joanne Cosiol for putting us in touch.  Very appreciative.  

I really can't put into words how cool this city is.  It has a different kind of feel than I anticipated for Texas, but the combination of traditional Texas (and UT) style with a healthy hipster culture creates just a really cool vibe.  There are a ton of "hole in the wall" shops, bars and restaurants that drive a significant part of the city's culture, and the entire place just feels like it's buzzing with activity.  

I took some time to visit the campus of the University of Texas (and gawk at the ginormous football stadium), took a run around the "lake" in the middle of the city (lots of outdoorsy activities in and around the city, it seems), dined and walked around a couple of different sections of town (South Congress was really cool), hit the Texas State History Museum, and toured the State Capitol building.  

Lauren and I were able to catch a wide variety of music shows on Monday and Wednesday night, from swing to deep country/western to an awesome 80s cover band (The Spazmatics).  The music scene drives a lot of the city's culture, at least from my limited perspective and what others have told me, and the quality was really good, particularly the Spazmatics, who were fresh off a performance at Drew Barrymore's wedding.   

In short, Austin is definitely a town in which I could see myself spending some more time.  

San Antonio, TX

Admittedly, I didn't spend a ton of time in San Antonio -- really just enough to see the Alamo, walk around the Riverwalk, and watch Game 4 of the NBA Finals.  My cousin just so happened to be in town for work (one of numerous happy coincidences which have happened thus far), so we got a chance to hang out and catch up in person for the first time in nearly a year.  

The Alamo was interesting, but candidly a bit underwhelming.  I had learned a lot of the history earlier in my Texas trip (courtesy of the aforementioned history museum), and it was a lot smaller than I anticipated.  I think I was also a bit taken aback by the fact that it is literally in the middle of downtown--with a 30 or 40 story hotel right next door.  Regardless, there were some interesting artifacts, and it definitely had a certain aura about it.  

Overall, I thought San Antonio was a very pretty city; the Riverwalk had some great scenery, and the downtown area has some beautiful churches and other buildings.  However, it felt a bit too "retail" to me...with shops and malls all over the downtown/Riverwalk area.  Aside from that, it seemed pretty interesting, but I just didn't get a lot of time there.  

Marfa, TX

After seven hours in the car, I spent a bit of time in a small town in West Texas.  Marfa has apparently become a bit of a cultural hotbed, with a handful of interesting restaurants and cafes.  The basis of this cultural renaissance (Vanity Fair's words) is the modern art movement started by Donald Judd in the 1970s.  It's also been the site of several movies, including There Will be Blood with Daniel Day Lewis.

Unfortunately, everything was pretty much closed by the time I got there.  Thankfully, however, I was able to get a great meal at a local restaurant--Maiya's--and chat with some locals.  Didn't spend a ton of time there, as I had to hit the road.

El Paso, TX

Not much on El Paso yet, as I just got here about two hours ago, but did want to touch on the unbelievably cool terrain that surrounds the city.  The mountainous landscape has a craggy surface that I find really beautiful.  I'll put up some pictures later, but really gorgeous stuff.  

Alright -- I'm down for the count.  More to come in the next couple of days...I'll try to be less professorial and hope to share some stories/reflections when I have the discipline to actually sit down and put together coherent thoughts.

Hope all are well...

DRB