Links and information about Austin, Texas

General

Downtown Austin is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America.

Local news, weather, allergy forecast, and air quality.

If you want to know what's going on around town, pick up the alternative newsweekly The Austin Chronicle (or read it online).


Parks

Browse the state parks and city parks.

Our favorite park for camping and hiking is Bastrop State Park.

One of the best places for road bicycling is the 3 mile veloway in southwest Austin, with no car traffic. And one of the best places to walk or jog is the Town Lake trail. Both are described on the Austin Parks Trails page.

About an hour to the west of Austin, there's Enchanted Rock, which is a very large granite dome. You can hike to the top of it, but be prepared for a long walk. The curvature of the rock makes you think you're almost at the top for a long time before you actually reach it. We took some pictures on one of our visits.


Goods and services

It would be impractical to make a comprehensive list; that's what telephone books are for. But sometimes it is hard to find a quality shop. Here are some recommendations:

Pet adoptions: Thundering Paws Animal Sanctuary. Also see Petfinder.com.

Biodiesel supplier: Austin Biofuels, also available through EcoWise.

Diesel Volkswagen mechanic: Robby Plenge (also part of Austin Biofuels)

Motorcycles & accessories: Lone Star BMW/Triumph

Volvo repair: Capital V Connection

Hays County vehicle inspections and oil changes: Good To Go Oil Center

The local source for Mobil 1 "Delvac 1" oil for our diesel Volkswagen: Allied Sales Co.

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