Notes from Austin Preview Trip

Notes from Austin Preview Trip

Matt and Amy Weseloh

January 2010

 

We took a preview trip to Austin, Texas from January 16th to January 20th 2010.

Why? Matt's employer is centralizing to Austin and has offered a relocation option.

 

The Situation

Matt and Amy Weseloh (and family) live in Watertown, South Dakota.

Their oldest son attends college in Watertown.

Their middle son is a Senior at a local church-based private high school.

Their youngest son is a freshman at a local church-based private high school.

 

They have previously lived in the Dallas Texas area from 1998 to 2005.

 

The Trip Goals

1) Experience Austin firsthand

2) Learn about real estate in the area

3) Learn about the high schools in the area

4) Learn about churches in the area

5) Learn about the employer site

Results

1) Experience Austin Firsthand

We timed our trip so that it included a holiday and would give us one more day to explore the area.  We had both time and budget constraints for this preview trip so our choices (free and cheap) reflect that.

 

There's a lot of free and cheap available in Austin - by the way!

 

First of all - look at our Google Map for highlighted places we experienced.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=108777437559785341342.0004791125f54b6309d41&ll=30.33851,-97.698669&spn=0.490089,0.480652&z=11

 

Second of all - review our pictures and their captions

First set - http://picasaweb.google.com/marji.weseloh/Austin_explore_Day1#

Second set - http://picasaweb.google.com/marji.weseloh/Austin_explore_days_3_and_4#

 

Third - get an Austin Visitor's kit from the Austin Visitor's Center

http://www.austintexas.org/ 

We also recommend getting the GoLocal Austin card which entitles you to discounts at many area merchants and restaurants.

You can either get a card online through the Visitor's Center "Deluxe Visitor's Package" (that's what we did) or pick one up at almost any merchant that lets you use one.

An excellent map for visitors is this one (which we picked up at the Visitor's Center on 6th Street)
http://www.mapamerica.com/Austin

 

As you can see

- we dined (at a lot of unique, neat and not too expensive places - and we just scratched the surface)

- we drove (all around the Austin area in all kinds of traffic - it's all there depending on where and when you're going)

- we hiked (a tiny bit around Mount Bonnell and downtown - and found there are miles and miles of opportunity in and around Austin)

- we listened (we caught free live music at the airport, at Hickory Street Bar and Grill and Flipnotics Coffeespace)

- we watched (a movie at Alamo Drafhouse, people in general - Austin is a melting pot)

- we worshipped (at Holy Word Lutheran in Austin)

We got re-aquainted with both Texas drivers (fast - turn signals optional) and Texas roads (Texas exits/entrances and the unique u-turns under overpasses).

FYI - Our GPS was an invaluable tool to find all of our destinations.

There's a lot of being in the right (or left) lane at the right time...

There are some toll roads - so have some spare change along just in case it's on your way somewhere.

We managed to avoid all of them.

 

One of Austin's slogans is "Keep Austin Wierd".  That's about right - the uniqueness (or wierdness) shows up in all sorts of places.

2) Learn about real estate in the area

We had two realtors recommended to us before our trip and we had both of them "show us around" both the area and a few selected homes that were for sale - just so we could get a feel for things.  We had too many unknowns to get really specific - but it was a very useful few hours spent with each.

 

Here is their contact info:

Jay Ferguson (recommended by company people who moved to Austin last year from Oregon)

Relocation Specialist, CNE

Keller Williams Realty

ph. 512 844 4065

email: jay@nwaustinhomes.com

www.nwaustinhomes.com  

 

Mary Patterson (recommended by local people in the church)

Realtor, GRI, ABR, ASP

Keller Williams Realty

ph. 512 689 4264

Email: mpatterson@kw.com

 

We were impressed by both and would be happy leveraging either one as we pursue things further.

Because of her affiliation with our church (Mary is the pastor's wife) we will probably continue with her.

We found each to have their own approach and opinions (of course). 

 

We received some PDFs of pertinent area information from Jay and I've put them in the Google docs folder.  

- Austin Area Map

- ActivitiesAndFamilyFun

- 100ThingsToDoInAustin

- Parks and Nature Preserves

 

3) Learn about the high schools in the area

We gathered lots of opinions about the schools in the area and combined it with the information online about the schools.

 

We wanted to get real information from real parents of students in the schools - so we tapped into both corporate employees and parents with high school age kids at the area churches.  This is just the beginning of this information gathering process.  It's a little more intensive for us because we're coming out of a small and private school situation - and are looking at the large and public schools.

 

We understand - so far -

- Your public school is directly connected to your homes location

- Since the population (and tax base) is growing - they are bulding/expanding the schools on the north/west sides constantly

- Different schools have specialties - medical, engineering, fine arts, science, etc. - and of course sports

- A new high school typically is filled by taking the new students and building it one grade at a time (instead of forcing kids to move from existing schools)

- There are LOTS of extracurricular opportunities

 

Here are some more PDFs of school information as well

- School District Links

- SchoolDistrictsMap

- Private schools List 2008-09 Suzzane

 

4) Learn about churches in the area

Our church family is very important to us and we learned in advance that we have several congregations (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod)  in the Austin area.

 

We attended one on the Sunday morning (Holy Word) after we arrived and visited others.  The Google map shows where they are located.

Contact me to find out more about the WELS churches or look them up on www.wels.net.

 

We found that the church family is a terrific way to learn about the area in advance of your visit.  People are very willing to offer their honest and real-world opinions and suggestions.

 

5) Learn about the employer site

I was able to tap into some employees who have recently gone through the relocation process to Austin (moving from Corvallis, Oregon in 2009)

 

These two people responded to my request for information and were very helpful.

- Slezak, Lee J

- Johnson, Michael A (Java Guru)

 

The employer site is an old Tandem computers corporate facility and hasn't entirely undergone the transition to the corporate standards trumpeted by our real estate folks.  It's a comparatively small site (compared to Plano's building) and has a wide variety of office and cube styles.  On the first floor I saw the IT executives offices (very nice), a bunch of inside corridor offices (very reminiscent of the old EDS Education building offices in plano), cubes with half-high community walls (like you'd see in a call center) and full-height cubes.  There were also some first-come, first-served mini-rooms where an employee or leader can go to have a private conference call with network access.  There is an employee cafeteria (very small with limited hours) and an on-site exercise room and outdoor pool.  Neither of my contacts have used them or seen anyone using them.

 

The road to the site is in pretty poor shape and the signs are pretty run-down.  Perhaps we're trying to keep a low-key presence since we have a high-tech datacenter next to the office buildling (and behind all the guards and big fences).

feeding the troops

Hey all -
sounds like we are totally coming up with a feeding frenzy plan for our vacation.

I didn't mean to sound like I can never feed the guys staying in our condo. Hope it didn't sound that way. Tom, and Aaron can come with Joe as well - they'll be like part of the family.

Just wanted all to feel like if they want to take off with their family to go do something other than at the condo - they didn't have to worry about what was for lunch or dinner - or the time of lunch and dinner. It's vacation - who wants to be on a schedule?

That being said - we'll let you know about the waffles. Glad everyone loves them (I can work on fruit or something to go with them).

love, amy

Are you Jellin' for some Dellin'?

Weseloh's and Schackenbergs and Lueckes converge on the Wisconsin Dells at the end of July.
Are you ready...?

Thursday - Piedra River Trail Matt & Amy's adventure

This is the lost blog of Matt and Amy Presume - who went hiking one day along the Piedra River near Pagosa Springs, CO.

It all started innocently enough. "we will have Ross drop us at the trail end at First Fork Bridge and he and Isaac can hike Ice Cave Ridge at the Trail head and we will meet them there" said Mr. Presume. "they will have to wait a little bit for us - but it will be ok."

They are not sure what went wrong. (Other than forgetting to tell N & P that theychanged their hiking plans - sorry).
They were dropped off at the trail's end at the First Fork bridge as planned at 10:30 am. They presumed it was a 5 mile hike to the William's Creek Bridge (according to word of mouth sources and you know how reliable those are) - and then a 3.5 mile hike to the Piedra Trail head from there (again distance given from the same w.o.m. source)

Matt and Amy P. are climbing a lot and keeping the river on the right to try and keep from getting lost. It is a beautiful trail. They don't remember 5 miles ever taking this long before - but they are not in the flat lands of South Dakota so they can't use their regular walking time as a guide.

The flowers are pretty. They grow out of the driest lands. But - they aren't taking much time to stop and smell them.

They knew we needed to cross 3 creeks before they'd get to William's Creek. The first was a puddle jumper - no sweat - great cuz the legs and lungs were getting pretty tired from climbing and climbing. Matt and Amy presume the others will be similar. The second was an adventure - it was running pretty fast and they had to cross it on a fallen tree.

Matt be nimble! Matt be quick - oops - Amy almost fell into the ragin' crick! (It's funny now, when they look back at it) :-) No photo op here - they were too busy trying to stay dry - lol.

Climbing again - up up up. The land is beautiful, peaceful. They finally see some horseback riders - who just say - "ya doing the whole trail?" And Mrs. Presume came across a man taking photos who commented - "you do know that you are doing this hike the hard way don't ya?"She'd started to get that idea.

At one point they came across an interesting stone marker. Was someone lost at some point? Wandering in the woods? Or does it have some other sort of significance? Is Jimmy Hoffa buried here?

The couple kept plugging away. The trail has to end soon. Mr. Presume was getting a little worried that they were on the wrong trail - even though they'd met up with a few people - but that seemed like hours ago.
"Mrs. Presume just kept thinking - as long as the river is on the right - we're ok. "
They still had another creek to go. His GPS battery had died and there was no cell signal to be had. They were truly alone out there.
At one point Matt suggested they turn back and try to get ahold of Ross to pick them up. Amy didn't think that was a good idea for a variety of reasons.

1. That seemed like giving up.
2. She didn't think we'd have a phone there either.
3.She'll stand on the edge of many a cliff - but I didn't want Ross driving that curvy windy road twice.

Finally creek numero tres - (I think Spanish when I'm tired ha ha). It had a bridge - hurray. Followed by a switch back that went up, up, up, up, up, up, up (you get the picture). Mr. Presume at this point is getting a second wind. Amy is on her diabetic end and know that they have pretty far to go yet.

Mr. Presume is waiting for Mrs. Presume at the top of the switch-back. She tried using a walking stick to go up that. She must have picked the heaviest stick in the forest - (which BTW - some of the trees looked like Fanghorn Forest for any LOTR fans - maybe it was just the low BS. )

The view at the top - and the breeze - almost/ok helped her recover a bit.

Matt is getting farther and farther ahead now. They are still remembering the mantra - keep the river on the right. The two see another bridge that is pretty low down - that can't be the WC bridge - I don't remember that much of a climb last year. Nope that bridge is over the actual river. They keep walking.

They see someone fishing. Good news - it isn't far at all now! Strange news - from where they began hiking - they will have covered 8.5 miles (mostly climbing) to the WC bridge. They information they received was wrong last year. The whole trail is not 8.5 miles - it is closer to 11. It is taking us longer - because of all the climbing and Amy having to slow down because of low BS. They still have no clue about what time it is.

Mr. Presume reached the meadow.That means the bridge is near. At the bridge there is a celebration of splashing with creek water and gearing up for what they think is another 3.5 miles. Matt takes off before Amy so that if Ross is waiting he can go to the trading post and get her something for her blood sugar.

When you are on the last part of the trail - there is a couple points where you can see Piedra Road. Amy presumed she saw the NaPa van going in the wrong direction. "NOOOOOOOO!" she shouted in her head. She picked up the pace as much as shecould.

Turns out Ross and Papa were looking for cell signal. Matt presumably found it at the trading post (a couple of great hikers gave him a ride down there. )

Ross and Papa picked us up at the Trail Head weary but in one piece! The trail head is 500 feet higher than the ending where Matt and Amy Presume started. No wonder they climbed so much.

When they made it to the van - there were many different exclamations - all repeatable btw - and some might have sounded like "I'll never hike that again! But now, as they sit here - having finished it and not quite as sore - maybe they will do it again someday.

Maybe - but with some changes - the biggest being - WE START AT THE TRAIL HEAD!

That's all for now -

Wednesday - Colorado High

Today Papa got to take a watercolor painting class and came home with a great work created in a new style.

The hikers (M, A, R, I) pushed it to the limit today - starting out their hike at the highest road point along highway 160 - Wolf Creek Pass. At the summit of the pass there are two continental divide trails (one running south and one running north).

First we tried to the south trail - only to find immediately upon entering the woods that it went from trail to snowdrift (with trail underneath). We tried this for a while - but decided to try our hand at the other side (which was more of a known quantity for us because we tried it last year, too).

On the north side of the highway there is a road (Lobo Overlook 3 mi.) that leads to an observation area and microwave transmitters. The road is closed to vehicles (when covered by snow at any point) but open to hikers.

It's uphill all the way to an elevation of 11,720 - starting at 10,800. All of us reached our personal high points and lived to tell about it. We've even got photographic evidence.

It was exhausting and exhilarating!

Wednesday's pics are here...

Tuesday - Piedra Falls Hike

If you are ever in the Pagosa Springs area this is one hike that is totally worth the effort. It takes driving, a shortish hike/walk that at the end gives you an awesome reward - a double falls.

Our trip today started with a stop at the Lunch date geocache that was about half-way to our hike. While the cacher's were searching for their prize - the more adventurous ones were searching for photo ops on the cliff-side. We were rewarded with beautiful scenery. Amy discovered that while she she is not afraid at all of heights - she does have a little fear of her children being close to the cliff-side edge. She eventually had to send Isaac away from the edge because she just couldn't watch him any more. She however stayed there(how's that for a double standard). Ross was able to get some awesome photos, Amy was running our video camera while Matt was gazing at the awesome mountain vistas on the other side of the road.

When we were ready to move on from there i.e. - the sane were able to get the risk takers from the edge - we continued our drive on to Piedra Falls. All 6 of us traversed the path to the falls and stayed for quite a while - some climbing up rocks and down - some just staying down closer to the waters edge.

The afternoon and evening were just spent relaxing. This vacation spot has always been made for and filled with just that. Fun and relaxation.

Tuesday pics here

Tuesday - Ballooning high over the San Juans

Woosh! My heart jumped as the balloon slowly began to ascend into the air, leaving the ground below. Woosh! My heart stayed in place this time, but my anticipation rose! What will we see on this glorious adventure in the sky? Woosh! We are soaring over the Village Lake now - I can see our condo - Eagle's loft 7007 - it looks so small from up here. Woosh! I need to get a picture before we get any higher. I reach for my camera - sigh - I'm in a dream blog. Someday I will be in that balloon over the San Juan Mountains.

Monday - Reservoir Hill Hike

Monday morning we were greeted by another beautiful day and set off for our hike - one that only 3/6ths of us had ever attempted before. This one had many different trails amid the trees - so two of our photographers took pictures of the trail map in case we split up (on purpose or not) while hiking.

On the reservoir hill trail we spotted colorful flowers, long-eared squirrels and some deer eating in the distance, as we tried to find our way from one trail marker to the next. Our goal was a scenic over-look. Some of us took a rugged red-trail to the top and some took an "easy" green (not-always) trail, but we all made it. The geo-cacher's found their box and the one other of us just stood on the edge and went "ahhh".

We again took separate trails to the bottom and enjoyed the different things we found on this hike.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying the warm sun - temps have been mid 70's in the lower elevations in the sun - higher elevations are a little cooler.

Monday's pics here

Sunday - Treasures galore

We started off Sunday with a devotion and Trinity Sunday sermon from Shepherd of the Valley in West Fargo. Then on to grocery shopping.

Finally - some fun stuff - an always rewarding hike to Treasure Falls. It's about 15 miles out of Pagosa Springs and it's a perfect hike. Nice workout for a wonderful reward (the beautiful Treasure Falls). The parking lot is situated so that you get to see the falls from afar - and then at the end of the hike you get to see, hear, and feel the falls up close and personal. If you go up to the Misty Deck you will get wet!

Today we were treated to a brief hailstorm on the hike - which passed by so quickly that even the rain that fell was dry in 10 minutes.

Then back to Pagosa for some chillin' and grillin'. The "Higher Grounds" coffee shop and Pagosa Brewery were stops on the way back to the condo. We're quaffing a growler of Eagle ESB (whatever that means) from the brewery. It's pretty tasty!

Sunday pics here...

Saturday - On to Pagosa

We continued our trek Pagosa Springs-ward with a scenic run down the "Top of the Rockies" highway (Colorado Highway 91) from Copper Mountain to Fremont Pass to Leadville. That's "Led-vill" because the miner's considered the earth they were excavating to be "as heavy as lead".

We stopped at the top of Fremont Pass and the former town of Climax. Climax was relocated to Leadville when the mining companies realized the town was sitting on rich deposits of minerals. All that remains today is a small molybdenum mining operation - but there was a wonderful little outdoor museum detailing the rich history. If you're ever in the area there - take the time to stop and enjoy it!

We picnic lunched at windy Poncha Springs at a little mom-and-pop welcome center. Swung through Saguache to see Ramie's Drug Dealer...(see last year's pictures for that...) and stopped at the scenic overlook while entering Pagosa Country. Saw a surprising pile of Diet Pepsi trash which we found was a soda truck that took a spill on one of the hairpin switchbacks coming down from Wolf Creek Pass.

Checked into our Eagles Loft condo at about 3:30 PM and settled in for our weeks stay here. The geese are still prevalent and leaving their little presents all about (advice - don't go barefoot outside...).

Saturday pics here...

Friday - Up, up and away

We continued our journey on Friday with a trek from Grand Island, NE (elevation - 1,853 feet) to Dillon, CO (elevation - 8,390 feet).

We picnicked at the Colorado Welcome center in Julesberg, CO and ended the day with the "Old Dillon Reservoir" hike. Wow - what a finish!

Two geocaches found - Kiddies Kache and Old Dillon Reservoir.

Friday Pictures at Picasaweb...

Thursday - A musical journey

We started our trek with a stop at the National Music Museum at Vermillion, SD.

Wow - what a wonderful journey into the world of making music. They have a multi-media tour (you get a Dell Axim PDA and a pair of headphones) where you get to hear, see and learn much more about exhibits in all the galleries and hallways.

'

Among the many wonders - we all saw our first Stradivarius violin, cello AND guitar! A crutch that's also a guitar. Hardanger fiddles. A piano with 7 pedals. And a complete gamelan ensemble from Java (commissioned and built for the museum). We even were treated to a gamelan rehearsal while we were there.

We finished our trek for the day in Grand Island, NE at the Travelodge motel. We were very pleasantly surprised at the very nice accomodations. We used our Wyndham Reward Points to pay for the room - so it was "free"...so to speak.

We dined at chez Pizza Hut. Pzone's all around...

Today's pics at Picasaweb

Back to Pagosa - in 2 weeks!

We're preparing for a return to Pagosa Springs, Colorado in June. Join us for the journey...

Escaping to the Dells

Well - here were are! After a white-knuckle 10 1/2 hour trip across southern Minnesota and Wisconsin (let's count - 4 semis, 10+ cars in ditches) we arrived at Glacier Canyon Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells.

We've driven by the exit many times but never stopped. Now we're here for a week. There are three indoor waterparks at this resort. It's a long (looooong) walk or a short shuttle ride from the condo to the waterparks. Very beautiful here - we'll get pics of the scenery today.

But tonight we were just glad to get here and super-pleased with our room. We have a 2 bedroom Presidential. We've never had a "Presidential" before - it's a new "level" for the Wyndham condos. Wow - the pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/matt.weseloh/March92009GlacierCanyonDells will speak for themselves.

Way spiffier stuff than we're used to. We're going to enjoy this week.

Isaac couldn't wait to hit the waterpark - so he donned trunks and we headed to Klondike Canyon. There are some pics of that, too.
There's a 4-person water ride called the Hurricane. He highly recommends it. We'll see if the rest of us can handle it!

Got to go up and make some cinnamon rolls...

Later...

WVR @ Glacier Canyon address/contact info

Wyndham Vacation Resorts at Glacier Canyon
45 Hillman Road
Lake Delton WI 53940
608-253-8800

WVR @ Glacier Canyon waterpark info

You need an "I'm a guest of this resort" wristband to get into the waterparks.

You receive one wristband for the maximum capacity of the unit you are in. Ex. a 1 Bedroom deluxe sleeps 4 - so that would be 4 wristbands.

There are 3 or 4 indoor and 3 or 4 outdoor waterparks. In the summer they all are open. In the winter and non-peak times only 2 of the indoor parks are open all the time. The other indoor park is open on the weekends.

Wyndham Vacation Resort @ Glacier Canyon

WVR @ Glacier Canyon shares a lobby and property with Glacier Canyon Resort. This is one of the Wilderness Territory resorts.
www.wildernessterritory.com

There are several indoor and outdoor waterparks, golf courses, a hiking trail, snow tubing hill, laser tag, mini golf, etc.

There is, sadly, no longer a Lake Delton. Apparently a berm/levee gave way after record rainfall and the lake ran into the Wisconsin River (and ran away). There are some dramatic YouTube videos of it happening. But it seems they're going to be refilling it.

But fishing opportunities on the Wisconsin River and numerous area lakes abound. Fishing boats/trailers can be parked on the property (unlike many other Wyndham resorts).

They have WiFi in the lobby - but not in the condos.

Disney Links

Disney World site

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/allParksOverview?id=ParkOverviewPage

Disney World Parks Calendar

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/calendar/parkhours/calendarHome

(FYI - Extra Value Hours are for people staying in Disney resorts - we should avoid those parks on those days)

Disney Vacation Planning kit & personalized DVD (free)

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/myVacation/index?id=MyVacationIndexPage

Disney on your desktop - DisneyLink

http://cdn.directmessagelab1.com/download/disney/download.aspx

Disney info NOT from Disney

http://www.wdwinfo.com/

Vacation Calendar

Farewell for now...

And so we arrived home safely on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm.

That's how the story ended...here are the gaps filled in...

We left Pagosa about 9 on Friday morning.  First, we headed over to the boys condo (a Peregrine unit B-side) to take pictures of it while it was semi-clean.  Then returned a movie, turned in our card keys, washed the winshield, refilled our gallon jugs of water - and then, we were off.

It was a hot drive on a hot day across Southern Colorado - we took Highway 160 over to Walsenburg.  We arrived in Colorado Springs in need of some air conditioning - but were too early to check into the hotel (a new trend we're running into on this trip - no rooms even available until after 3).  We already had a plan B in mind - to go to a movie.  So we hit the Cinemark Imax theater and saw Kung Fu Panda.  Unfortunately - the A/C wasn't that cool in the theater (but the lobby was) - and the movie was OK but nothing to write home about.  But we were thankful for the break from the heat and noise (windows open at 75 mph = loud!)

After the movie - we checked into the Extended Stay Suites hotel.  We cranked the A/C in our room and it was nice.  We stopped in Colo Springs (barely 5 hours on our way home) to rendezvous with Zech Roloff - a cadet at the Air Force Academy there.  We had supper with him and hung around until about 10 PM when we took him back to the base.  

Saturday was our long driving day - so we tried to get out early (about 7:30) and made our way from Colo Spgs (as all the road signs say) to Grand Island, NE.  Another hot and windy trek that ended up at a nice little Rodeway Inn that was very eager to make their guests happy.  Nice little lake out back with a beach and patio.  Very impressive.

Amy and I went out to eat at Red Lobster - and she got to try the winning recipe from "America's Next Food Network Star".  It was unique and pretty tasty.  

We finished the trek on Sunday heading north from Grand Island to Watertown.  We went through Yankton again and got to cross over the dam in a detour as well.  A pretty diversion in the daylight (this time).

And so we bid you farewell for now from vacation-land...back to reality!