back to Texas

[Battis]

Last Sunday night I snowblowed and shoveled 15 or so inches from my driveway. We left Monday morning for a return trip to Texas. Door to door (MA -TX) was close to 15 hrs. The plane was delayed but not from the storm - they had to send to NY to get a new battery for the plane. 5 hr flight to San Antonio, then the drive to Del Rio. Temps in TX were in the high 60s, low 70s - beautiful weather. Visited the Amistad National Park- great place. We didn't have time to drive around - we had to leave on Wednesday (which turned into Thursday due to another Northeast storm). By the time we got back on Thursday, just about all of the snow was gone.
I really want to see more of Texas. Love the highway signs: Bad Road, then- Speed limit 75 mph. My favorite was: Hitchhikers could possibly be escaped inmates.
Wahlburger vs Whataburger...Da Wife says Wahlburger, I'd take either. I gotta learn how to pronounce HEB.

[contender1]

Lots of good things in Texas. But there are also some things that can make you miss your home state too.

[challenger_i]

LOTS of things to see in Texas. As a small example, start in San Antonio. Pick your direction: N, S, E or W. Two hours in either direction and everything is different. Each direction has something to offer for the traveler. And that is just a small sample of what Texas has to offer.

[Battis]

The people in TX that we encountered were very friendly. I can hide my Boston accent, but my wife can't. Her accent started several conversations - where, exactly, are you from? We saw lots and lots of named creeks, most of which were dry. ZORRO Creek was my favorite. Yeah, I'd like to spend some serious time traveling around TX.

[challenger_i]

You really ought'a be around when those creeks AREN'T dry! :)
Budget a month and you still will not see it all!

[725]

some moths ago I meet my daughter in San Antonio. took a couple full days to go to the Alamo and then north to the pacific war museum & crawdad festival. it was the best!

[challenger_i]

The Nimitz Museum is pretty swell, but I wish you could have gone through it 30 years ago. Had better aircraft displays, and it wasn't as jumbled.

[MaryB]

You really ought'a be around when those creeks AREN'T dry! :)
Budget a month and you still will not see it all!

Friend of mine lives in Odessa(beautiful country if you ignore the oil wells...) and he street turns into a river every time it rains. Her house is on 3' stilts to prevent flooding...

[challenger_i]

Yah, Midland and Odessa both do not handle rain very well.

[lancem]

HEB is pronounced H E B, my favorite grocery store, trouble is closest one is 4 hours away.

[deltaenterprizes]

We moved to East Texas after Katrina and stayed because life was normal and only planned to stay for about 5 years, that was about 18 years ago!
My wife has no desire to go back to the New Orleans area even for a visit!
The people were very helpful and welcoming but it is a different culture than southeast Louisiana.
Not totally different because the rural areas have farms and ranches but they are not as prevalent as in East Texas.’
The food is good but different in many ways but they love Creole/Cajun food, that luckily I know how to cook, plenty of imitation Louisiana restaurants, small portions and high prices, fair quality.
Mexican food and barbecue abound, some good some fair.
The weather is colder in winter and plenty more hot in the summer!
The spring and fall are wonderful!
I do miss my fresh seafood but I go for a visit when I can and eat all I can and bring some home for later plus other assorted things like hogsheads cheese and recently boudain !
Crawfish are gold plated so I have begun to boil my own after Easter when the price goes down.
I recently saw a meme calling crawfish “chicken of the ditch”, it was poor people’s food when I was a kid because you could literally put nets in a ditch and catch enough for dinner and most probably still can! You have to watch out for water moccasins!
Believe it or not there are commercial crawfish ponds between Houston and Lake Charles around a Beaumont!
Plenty of shrimp and Gulf fish in Galveston too!

[Winger Ed.]

Boston accents are cool.
I served with a couple guys from up there. I could sit & listen to them read the phone book all day.

We have signs on the high ways here in a few places that read:
"Prison Area Do not pick up Hitch hikers".

[Battis]

So, HEB is spelled out. Not Heb (like Jeb on Green Acres). Cool. Good store - they have it all.
Even locally, my wife is teased about her Boston accent. She does have a collection of "cowboy boots", and she got several comments/compliments on the ones she wore in TX. She has boots, I have guns.

[Winger Ed.]

She has boots, I have guns.

To complete your wardrobes,
you only need a 30" diameter sombrero, and a 10 gallon hat like Hoss had on Bonanza.

And remember, while wearing boots & spurs----- don't squat.

[Battis]

I have a Shady Brady from when I lived in SLC.
My wife googled custom cowboy boots in Del Rio, but the closest shop was far far away. Love that giant state.

[challenger_i]

" 'Aitch EEE BEE" as in "Howard E. Butt & Co."
Fine establishment. Was infinitely pleased when they opened one in Abilene!


So, HEB is spelled out. Not Heb (like Jeb on Green Acres). Cool. Good store - they have it all.
Even locally, my wife is teased about her Boston accent. She does have a collection of "cowboy boots", and she got several comments/compliments on the ones she wore in TX. She has boots, I have guns.

[challenger_i]

And never forget that Hoss was born and raised just south and a bit east of Lubbock...


To complete your wardrobes,
you only need a 30" diameter sombrero, and a 10 gallon hat like Hoss had on Bonanza.

And remember, while wearing boots & spurs----- don't squat.

[WRideout]

We moved to East Texas after Katrina and stayed because life was normal and only planned to stay for about 5 years, that was about 18 years ago!
My wife has no desire to go back to the New Orleans area even for a visit!
The people were very helpful and welcoming but it is a different culture than southeast Louisiana.
Not totally different because the rural areas have farms and ranches but they are not as prevalent as in East Texas.’
The food is good but different in many ways but they love Creole/Cajun food, that luckily I know how to cook, plenty of imitation Louisiana restaurants, small portions and high prices, fair quality.
Mexican food and barbecue abound, some good some fair.
The weather is colder in winter and plenty more hot in the summer!
The spring and fall are wonderful!
I do miss my fresh seafood but I go for a visit when I can and eat all I can and bring some home for later plus other assorted things like hogsheads cheese and recently boudain !
Crawfish are gold plated so I have begun to boil my own after Easter when the price goes down.
I recently saw a meme calling crawfish “chicken of the ditch”, it was poor people’s food when I was a kid because you could literally put nets in a ditch and catch enough for dinner and most probably still can! You have to watch out for water moccasins!
Believe it or not there are commercial crawfish ponds between Houston and Lake Charles around a Beaumont!
Plenty of shrimp and Gulf fish in Galveston too!

Around Sacramento CA there are large rice fields where commercial crawfish fishermen ply their trade. I don't know for sure, but I suspect the Texas rice fields around Houston do the same thing. BTW; I was told that most of the CA catch is exported to Sweden!

[Winger Ed.]

Louisiana does, or did grow more rice than Japan.

Driving down through the middle to the South of Louisiana, I saw miles and miles of perhaps former fields converted over
to growing crawfish. The Southern part of East Texas probably doesn't look much different.

[challenger_i]

My Dad's cousin married a lady from Abbeville. She said that the mark of a good potential South Louisianna bride was that she could look at a rice field and tell you, within a couple of ounces, how much gravy it would take to cover the rice...
She was a pistol! Miss that girl!

[SciFiJim]

The people in TX that we encountered were very friendly. I can hide my Boston accent, but my wife can't. Her accent started several conversations - where, exactly, are you from? We saw lots and lots of named creeks, most of which were dry. ZORRO Creek was my favorite. Yeah, I'd like to spend some serious time traveling around TX.

If you drive east from San Antonio, you will cross Woman Hollering Creek. I always get a chuckle when I cross that bridge.

[Tall]

We left Texas when the property taxes on our house exceeded $11.5K per year. We moved to Tulsa, OK. The weather is better and the property taxes are reasonable.

If we still lived in Dallas our taxes would be over $14K the past year. Look before you leap.

[SciFiJim]

We left Texas when the property taxes on our house exceeded $11.5K per year. We moved to Tulsa, OK. The weather is better and the property taxes are reasonable.

If we still lived in Dallas our taxes would be over $14K the past year. Look before you leap.

That's one of the reasons I moved out of San Antonio. My property taxes were more than my mortgage. They are probably cheaper outside of a metro county area. Like Tall said, "Look before you leap."

[Battis]

I'm just glad we didn't end up in the hoosegow like we almost did back in September when we first went to Del Rio. The Avis car we rented had been reported stolen, and the plates were never cleared. State police (2 cruisers and Border Patrol) stopped us the first time, and the Ulvade police (with the Border Patrol) stopped us the second time. I listened to the woman on the phone giving directions and made a quick left turn in Ulvade when the Border Patrol and Ulvade cops were behind us. I stopped when they put their lights on. The Ulvade cop said that he thought we were going to run. He gave me a warning - for what, I'm not sure.
This last trip, I saw a Border Patrol truck, offroad, dragging 6 or 8 tires on a chain through the brush and down a dirt road. Any ideas what he was doing? I mean, I could guess, but...

[challenger_i]

Clearing the road of existing tracks, so that they can determine future travel usage.

[Murphy]

I live about 15 minutes from the Red River here in Oklahoma, far S.E. corner. A great state, and a lot of good people. I've a number of good friends over in Texas. Yet, I've not traveled much of Texas other than across the state line to larger towns for shopping/medical needs. I'm located in a very rural area.

I would invite you to come look at S.E. Oklahoma, but in my area there's been a huge boom in tourism over the past 20 years, and it's growing more and more every day. They're saying we're the next Branson, and more and more it's looking that way. Oklahoma has casinos and a big one is going up currently about 25 miles to the north of me. As Hank Williams Jr. sang in a song of his, "It looks like they turned the Longhorn into a space ship" seems to fit the best description. Insane what a single small lot of land is going for. But, that's life and it has brought badly needed funds to our area.

Happy hunting!


Murphy

[Battis]

I asked my son and his wife where they liked living the most in the past ten or so years: FLA, LA, TX or Minot, ND. Minot, ND was easily their favorite.

[Tall]

That's one of the reasons I moved out of San Antonio. My property taxes were more than my mortgage. They are probably cheaper outside of a metro county area. Like Tall said, "Look before you leap."

We were looking at moving to Hillsborough or Waxahachie - then we looked at Tulsa and the cost of living was so much lower that it all made sense. Do your own research.

[MaryB]

I asked my son and his wife where they liked living the most in the past ten or so years: FLA, LA, TX or Minot, ND. Minot, ND was easily their favorite.

Minot???? EWWWWW! COLD!!!! And nothing there... really low on my choice of places to move to... only good thing there is the catfishing in the Red River.

[DougGuy]

I lived in Texas most of the 70s and loved it, I left just before the oil went bust.

Houston and all of the coastal parts were a mecca for welders, I could go to Winchell's donuts, grab a coffee and 2-3 donuts and a handful of dimes, open the yellow pages (attached to the pay phone) to the "oilfield equipment and suppliers" and have a job to go to right now before I finished my coffee and donuts, with dimes left over.

The year after I left you couldn't buy a job welding, there were acres and acres of equipment rusting in the sun every where you looked.

[Battis]

I went to Minot twice, and it is kinda barren, and cold, and snowy. They were there longer than any other place, and they both like the cold. Both kids (my grandkids) were born there. Driving from Minot, I found my favorite state (well, after NH) - South Dakota. Drives my wife nuts - that's the only place I want to revisit.