Each December, we look for a warm place to spend our time, ideally one that’s a stark contrast from the gray skies, damp air and brief days of the Pacific Northwest. This time around we decided to go to the city of Austin in Texas. Austin has decent cafes, restaurants and bars to hang out at, and plenty of parks and lakes to spend time around. On our last day, we hiked the River Place Canyon Trail.

One new construction stood out during one of our walks. This was a large 3084-square-foot house with a unique architecture.

But perhaps our most novel experience during this trip was taking Uber rides in Waymo vehicles (the autonomous and driverless ones).

Waymo’s autonomous and driverless car.