The next morning I made the short drive to Austin. Austin is known as the liberal heart of Texas, the music/art/intellectual heart of Texas, the coolest city in Texas, and other similar things. I drove there early and found a campsite at McKinley State Park south of the city. The ranger looked at me funny when I asked for a campsite - it was over 100 degrees fahrenheit when I set up my tent and I was the only one camping.

I went to town to cool off at a cafe. Randy was my barista and I mentioned I had just arrived in town. 'Where are you staying?' he asked me. I told him I was camping. He told me he and some friends had traveled the country the summer before and used the couchsurfing site the entire way. They had some amazing experiences and felt like returning the favor so they had set up a room dedicated to couch surfers. They didn't have anyone staying at the moment and I was welcome. I really didn't want to stay in the tent so I quickly said 'yes, please.' Randy and his roommates lived in a big house east of downtown. I went over and hung out with them until pretty late. They were all nice folks from Chicago and San Diego who had moved to Austin a half year before. I was tired and slept very well on their big couch.

Here's where I've gone so far - I'm getting quite a collection of markers:

Look at how big Texas is!