Ok, round two. As others have suggested, the drive from Houston to Austin is pretty uneventful. There are some scenic spots, but overall the time would be better spent around Austin instead of on a fast highway. Some indoor activities may be appealing due to the heat this time of the year.

If you want to explore some interesting places in Austin, look into the following:

- South Congress. This is an area on Congress Ave south of Town Lake (the river like lake south of the downtown area). It's been revitialized in the past few years and has a bit of a hipster presence, but also has lots of interesting and weird shops to explore. One for example is a steampunk themed candy and malt shop, selling among other things, chocolate covered bacon.

- University of Texas campus. This place is huge, and if it interests you at all, might be worth walking around. Look just north of the capitol building for any street signs that are burnt orange color. Those signal where the campus borders are.

- The capitol building. Pretty open to visitors, though they did recently add metal detectors. Being bigger then even the US capitol building, there is quite a bit to explore. Make sure to wander into the basement, and the newer underground expansion.

- 6th street. Even if you aren't into the bar scene much, it's a very interesting people watching area. Lots of live music here at night, and on Friday and Saturday, the police will close off the street to vehicles.

I think all of this should give you plenty to do in a week there. I still miss living there, and look forward to getting back one day.