Coming back into Austin
The Hill Country is close enough for a day trip, so most of those days end with the same hour on the same few roads back into town.
Austin sits at the edge of the Hill Country, and on a free weekend that is most of its appeal. Enchanted Rock, Pedernales Falls and Reimers Ranch are all an easy drive away, close enough to leave after breakfast and be home for dinner. The catch is that half the city has the same idea, and on a Sunday evening everyone comes back along the same few roads at the same time.
A day outside ends in the car. After a granite climb or an afternoon in the river, legs are heavy, skin is warm from the sun and the mind has already moved on to Monday. That is a fair description of a tired driver, and the last stretch into town asks the most of one.
Where the roads meet
From the west, most trips funnel into a handful of roads: US-290 through Dripping Springs, RM 2222 from the lake side, and Loop 360 tying them together. Out in the hills these roads hold a steady pace with long sight lines. Closer in they fill with city traffic that has its own plans, and the change comes quickly.
The merges are where it shows. Lanes end, on-ramps are short, and a line of cars at highway speed meets a line crawling toward a light. Leave more room than feels necessary, pick your lane early, and join at the speed of the traffic you are joining. The driver ten minutes from home and already thinking about the couch is the one most likely to drift into the next lane without a look.
The light behind you
Driving east in the late afternoon puts the sun at your back, so glare on the way home is lower than many people expect. Your windshield stays clear. The cars coming the other way are the ones staring into it, and so is anyone waiting to turn left across your lane. Assume a westbound driver may not see you, and give intersections a little extra time until the sun is down.
Mirrors are another matter. A low sun in the rear-view mirror can be bright enough to hide a car coming up behind you, so flip the mirror to its night setting and check over your shoulder before changing lanes.
A stop on the way
Dripping Springs and Johnson City both sit on 290, and both make a good place to break the drive. Get out, stretch, drink some water and eat something with real food in it. Twenty minutes off the road costs little, and it gives the traffic ahead a chance to thin out. If anyone in the car is nodding off, swap drivers here, before the road gets busy.
If the trip ends in a crash
Most of the time the worst thing on the way home is a slow merge at the Y in Oak Hill. Sometimes it is a bumper. If the cars can move, get them out of the lane, call 911 and photograph both cars, the plates and the road before anything is towed. Texas law requires drivers in a crash to stop and trade names, addresses, insurance and registration, and once the officer files the crash report (the CR-3), you can buy a copy online from TxDOT. Note exactly where it happened while it is still fresh, such as the mile marker on 290 or the cross street on 2222, because a day later every stretch of that road looks the same. If anyone was hurt, or the other driver's insurer calls before you have seen a doctor, talk to an Austin Car Accident Attorney before you sign anything or give a recorded statement.
The last few miles
On most Sundays the drive ends with a car full of dusty shoes and a long wait for the shower. Unload the gear, hang up whatever got wet, and plan the next trip with an earlier start. Leaving the hills an hour ahead of everyone else is the simplest safety measure there is, and it gets you home with some of the evening still left.