Dianne Bartlett's Lakeway Lake Travis Real Estate Blog

Keller Williams Food Drive in Travis Landing Austin Texas is a Huge Success!  The Travis Landing home owners donated over 35 bags of food this weekend to the Capital Area Food Bank of Austin.  Home owners generously opened up their hearts this past week, allowed me to knock on their doors and accepted a bag to fill with food items for Austin's hungry.  The Capital Area Food Bank usually experiences a shortage of food around the holidays when hungry families and children need it the most.  Austin area real estate agents at Keller Williams Realty comb their neighborhood streets for donations every year to help collect food and donate it at a time when it's most needed.

When I drove around to pass out the bags, I wanted to speak with as many people personally in order to introduce myself since I'm fairly new to the neighborhood.  Plus, I know I'm more likely to donate if someone asks me face-to-face.  Hunger in Austin is a bigger problem than many of us know.  I just wanted to give this food drive my best effort in order to help as much as possible.

What I found is that Travis Landing residents are the coolest!  I met so many wonderful people and saw lots of great landscaping and home decor.  Oh, and lots of big dogs, too.  About half the neighborhood was home when I walked around Monday afternoon, and I did my best to leave bags on porches of anyone not there.  The homeowners' association was nice enough to let me post a sign at the entrance of the neighborhood so that everyone would know what to expect.

Next year, I hope to be a little better organized and do a better job to make it as easy as possible for residents to donate.  One thing I learned is that I got a little over-anxious this morning and started picking up bags too early.  Afterall, it is Saturday morning!  I just wasn't sure how long it would take me.

When I arrived at the church parking lot where the trucks were waiting, several volunteers opened up my Honda Pilot and started unloading.  I stayed about an hour and watched several other vehicles come through with their donations.  And guess what!  I think Travis Landing residents donated the most!

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who participated.  I'll see you next year!

Don't say I didn't warn you... Austin Texas is a Burnt Orange Town!  I guess it would be like living in Dallas and not liking the Cowboys.  If you want to live in Austin it really helps to be a Longhorn Fan.  Especially on a day like today.  Oh, you didn't know?  The Red River Rivalry occurs today.  Still don't know what I'm talking about?  The University of Texas Longhorns play the Oklahoma Sooners in the Cotton Bowl at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas.  The game starts in under an hour, and I'm typing as fast as I can!

Austin doesn't have any professional sports teams, so most residents have adopted the Longhorns and joined their fan club even if they didn't attend THE university.  I had the privilege of attending UT twice in my life - once as an undergrad, and later as a graduate student.  Yes, my blood is burnt orange.

In the mid 1980's, Freddie Akers led the Longhorns, and the games were kind of boring.  Three yards and a cloud of dust, three yards and a cloud of dust, three yards and a cloud of dust.  Uh oh, fourth down and 1 yard to go.  Will we make it?  Yes!  We had some winning seasons but no real spectacular standout games.  But, I'm just a girl and was only a teenager at the time.  What do I know about football?

All I really know is that it's exciting to be a fan!  Especially on a gorgeous day like today.  The sunrise was burnt orange and I know it will be an exciting game.  The mild 1980's are long gone, and Mack Brown football reigns in Austin.  It's all excitement all the time.  Every year, we have stand-out players, Heisman nominees, fired up coaches and supportive fans.  The stadium is expanded, the turf renewed, and Austin's population grows even in an economic downturn.  That means...more Longhorn fans every year.

Do we have mixed households?  You bet!  My neighbors are an Aggie-Longhorn couple.  My friend from college married an Aggie.  I've sold houses to OU-UT families.  Many of the local high school kids didn't make it in to UT even though their parents went there.  That means a lot of parents here are forced to cheer for Texas Tech instead of their alum.  Most of take it all in good stride... Because, when you live in Austin, you have to know that it's a Burnt Orange Town!

You may not know this, but mountain biking in Austin Texas can be extreme!  Vancouver, Colorado, Arizona, California and many other mountain states may offer extreme trails, but Austin Texas can compete if you know where to go.

Austin Texas is home to all types and levels of bike riders, including, of course, one road biker in a yellow jersey.  But, even Lance has been spotted on the milder mountain bike trails in the Austin area.  The "inner circle" extreme mountain bikers love to gaffaw at him when they see him step off.  Everyone else, I'm sure, just admires the guy for everything he's done for his sport, his charity, and for the Austin area.  But extreme mountain bikers enjoy giving each other a hard time.

What are the extreme trails like in Austin?  Single track winds through scrub cedar over and along caliche rock ledges.  Some sections are littered with rubble-ly piles of limestone that turns to slippery marbles when wet.  Most trails wind along creeks, which are either dried up or gushing, depending on whether Austin is in a drought or a flood.  Extreme mountain bikers hate it when hikers or "regular" mountain biking folks "groom" the trail.  "Grooming" is when novices or other intruders move rocks aside to keep the trail smooth.  Almost all of the extreme trails in Austin were built by the "inner circle" extreme riders.  They've worked hard to make the trails challenging and fun, so they don't appreciate when Sunday strollers and cruisers adopt their trails and change them.

If you're not in tip-top physical condition with a high-end bike, stay away from the extreme trails.  You would spend most of your time walking and carrying your bike.  Extreme mountain bikers in Austin ride approximately 20 miles of grueling up and down single track at least 3-4 days per week.

Kinder, gentler mountain biking trails can also be found in the Austin Texas area.  The Barton Hills greenbelt, Walnut Creek greenbelt and many other areas provide miles of smoother trails with fewer rocks and ledges.

The Old Pecan Street Festival hits Austin, Texas this weekend, September 26-27, 2009.  Temperatures are already in the 90's, and there isn't much breeze, so wear light clothing and plenty of sunscreen.  I found parking in the Convention Center garage at 5th and Brazos (southeast corner).  UT gameday traffic is heavy right now, so you may want to wait until it clears out in about an hour.  If you go tomorrow, I recommend that you get there early.  We arrived at 10:50 am this morning, and all the booths were open.  Get there by 10:30 am tomorrow morning, and you'll beat the crowds.

This year's Pecan Street Festival offers plenty of shopping and food.  We didn't stay long enough to enjoy the entertainment but with plenty of stages, the music will be great as well.  I was impressed with the prices for plenty of homemade arts and crafts.  If you like to do your Christmas shopping early, bring your wallet and select from a variety of unique presents.  Evidently, pooches are welcome downtown on a leash, but I felt a little sorry for them in the heat!  Maybe the breeze will pick up later this afternoon.