Texas

Big Tex - Dallas State Fairgrounds

How can I possibly tell you about Texas?  It is huge – the largest state except for Alaska.  Texas has so many different areas that it could easily be a country all by itself as it was in the early 1800s.   If you want variety, Texas certainly has it.  The southeast is on the Gulf of Mexico so you can find sandy beaches, barrier islands and plenty of water sports.  There are also swamps further in and gradually the land rises to the piney woods of east Texas.  There are rolling hills, grasslands and prairies in the center of the state.  You can find deserts, canyons, mountains and unbelievable amounts of open land as you travel west and southwest. 

 

The Astrodome in Houston

There are large cities, each with unique characteristics and many small towns, farms and ranches. Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States and is a major seaport.  NASA headquarters are located here and tours are available to learn about the missions that resulted in the moon landing.  

The Alamo - San Antonio

San Antonio features both The Alamo and a lovely river walk in the downtown area.  Dallas/Fort Worth is another major metropolitan area and home to the Dallas Cowboys, a popular football team along with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.  El Paso is at the western border with New Mexico and borders Mexico along the Rio Grande River.  Austin is the capital city and hosts the SXSW (South by South West) musical festival each year.   Each of these cities have their own unique museums, art galleries and other interesting places to visit and of course, family oriented attractions for the youngsters.

The Devil's Tombstone-Palo Duro Canyon

Big Bend National Park is in the southwest area of Texas and has valleys, mountains, desert and canyons.  There are 13 National parks and over ninety State parks to choose from.

When I was a very little girl, several families from our neighborhood held an Easter picnic in Palo Duro Canyon which is located south of Amarillo.  It is an area that is similar to the Grand Canyon only much smaller with unusual formations of rock.  My older brother and his friends – all about 10 or 11 years old-went exploring and found a place called The Devil’s Slide.  They thought they would get back to the picnic area by going down the slide side which was shorter.  My brother was the first one to slip and then he tumbled with fallen branches and rocks.  The other boys helped him back to the top and the long way back.  He tore all the ligaments and tendons in his leg so his summer was on crutches that year.

Texas Longhorns

I lived in Amarillo, in the “Panhandle” area of north Texas, when I was a little girl and then in the large city of Houston when I was in high school.  I have traveled across the state many times to visit my grandparents who lived in Houston while I was growing up.  When we drove from California to be there for Christmas, I remember waking up at dawn in El Paso and my Dad driving all day long to reach Houston by Midnight.  It’s over 900 miles across the state so even with the modern interstate highways, it is still an all day drive.

Another unusual place west of Amarillo is the Cadillac Ranch.  There are 10 old Cadillac cars that were an Art project done by the Ant Farm group on the land of a wealthy Texan in the 1970s.  They have been repainted many times and covered over with graffiti from the visitors to the ranch.

To find your favorite place to see, check out the website at http://www.traveltex.com