Des Moines almost has the feel of Austin. And no, Texas isn't that flat once you get to the Balcones Escarpment. It's just the Gulf coast area that's flat. Why do you think they call it the Texas Hill Country? Of course there's no 6th street here except there's Court Ave which has pretty decent bars. The other bars/clubs you have to drive to get to. There's lots of outdoor stuff to do around here. There's Raccoon River Park, Gray's Lake, and Saylorville Lake that come in mind. The "artsie" flair here isn't as big as in Austin. But it's getting better I think. There are a lot of things to do during the summer and spring. Winter is basically boring b/c of the snow and cold. Oh and just FYI, I've never seen snow outside of skiing in the Rockie mountains and that one time in 2004 when we got some. I hate it. I hate driving in it. I hate being cold. But this winter was "mild" compared to what they normally have here, I've heard. So I guess I got lucky. But yah, my first driving experience in the snow was unpleasant. I was at the library pretty late studying, and it had snowed around 7pm and was still coming down. I didn't have an ice/snow scraper yet so I used my arm and sat in my car until it defrosted. Then I drove straight into Grand Ave with the brakes fully pressed down. After that I had someone tell me what to do, but that was scary at 12am. Of course people laughed, but I don't care, they've done this all their lives. This was my first time, so how was I supposed to know? Anyways
