Land of a million pickup trucks

Austin really is a liberal oasis in a land of right wing conservatives. For example, on the drive here I passed numerous bible camps, saw a sign that said "liberals not welcome", and have literally seen more pickup trucks than people. By contrast, last night while strolling through the city, Nick and I overheard a bike pedicab driver explaining to his passenger (whether she wanted to hear it or not) how religious confession was not dictated by the bible, but rather was created by the priests so they could "keep tabs" on you. I got a chuckle out of this.

So far Austin is a pretty cool city though. Lots of good bars with good music, laid back people; as the guy at the front desk of our hostel put it, change all the sunny days in Austin into rainy ones, and you'd have Portland. I'd have to agree. So far Nick and I have been able to sample the local BBQ, check out a few live bands, see the Capital. I'll probably keep this post short though because we are on our way out to catch the Bruins game now, then it's on to Louisiana early tomorrow morning. Ciao.

Update: We just got back from a night out on sixth street, and it was a lot of fun. I can totally understand why they call this the live music capital of the world. It's just so strange to see the transformation of the downtown area from very quiet and boring during the day to just an absolutely miasma of people at night. We got to see a phenomenal blues band perform in a little bar while we watched the game and drank cheap beer. Essentially, it was my ideal Austin experience. And to cap off the night I had a chili dog from a street vendor that absolutely hit the spot. I will certainly be going to bed tonight with a smile on my face.