I relocated to Texas in April 2000 from Australia where I had been living for the two years prior. Having a Texan man (although born in Louisiana), we decided to live in Texas for 5 years or so then move back to Australia. While I had visited other parts of the U.S. in the past, Texas was not high on the agenda of 'places I needed to visit' on my World Adventures. The 'Big State' conjured up preconceived visions of Long Horn cattle, Stetson hats and cowboy boots, sprawling ranches and pumping oil derricks, not to mention 'JR' and 'South Fork Ranch' (the TV. Shown 'Dallas'). I had previously moved around a lot and lived in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong with a short stint in Hawaii... so hard could living in Texas be. Well.... Texas certainly proved to be quite an adjustment, in many ways, that I wasn't quite expecting.

Dallas is a large city of concrete, steel and glass. Primarily a business centre rather than a tourist drawcard although they seem to be trying to change that. The city was put in the spotlight as being the city where JFK was murdered and where JR Ewing conducted his business, love affairs and shady dealings in the television series 'Dallas'. We all saw the opening segment of this huge city looming up from the flat land that surrounds it.. Dallas has some great attractions (scattered around), great theatres, galleries and shopping but lacks the cultural feel of Texas' history. The massive and conjested freeways just to get into downtown is enough to put anyone off the journey and really, the attitude is if you don't have to go in - don't!. "Dallas has its own version of traffic rules ....Hold on and pray !!!! There is no such thing as a dangerous high speed chase in Dallas. They all drive like that".

The following pages were my early observations as I uncovered and discovered, and primarily my thoughts relate to my little corner of Texas. Had I been in the work environment, I know that my views would probably have changed or intensified and taken on a whole different range of topics. I will say however that while writing this, I did some research on other expats comments and views moving to Texas or even the States in general and found them to be remarkably in the same vein as mine.

When holidays allowed, I slowly tried to travel around this huge State and see the differences in the various regions of Texas. My my immediate metroplex areas of Dallas and Fort Worth were fairly well explored - Ft Worth by far the most interesting of the twin cities. Here you can take yourself back into the Western culture and get a little carried away not to mention catch up on the wonderful Galleries and the great Ft Worth Zoo. Just south of Fort Worth is Granbury, full of history and legend and wonderfully restored architecture. It has been billed as the town "Where Texas History Lives". It has one of the nicest downtown squares that I have seen in Texas. A little further south again is Glen Rose. In the 1930s, dinosaur tracks were uncovered by the formation of the Paluxy River. You can actually see these prints in the river bed. Also in Glen Rose is Fossil Rim wildlife centre where you can take a scenic drive through 1,500 acres of large pasture land and wooded hills viewing some 1,100 exotic, threatened and endangered animals. They will come right up to your car for feeding. Directly north of Dallas (maybe a tad east) you will find some lovely little towns like Sherman and Denison enroute to Lake Texoma and the Oklahoma border. Lake Texoma is a wonderful area - trees, hills and of course a huge man made lake. Another couple of great little towns are Bonham and Greenville, both rich in history and their famous residents. My favourite area so far has to be East Texas (the Piney Woods area) with its tall trees and greenery (a vast contrast to the stark Dallas area). Jefferson is by far the most delightful little town in this area, full of history and antique stores. There are some wonderful B & B's there also for a great weekend getaways. Close-by is another favourite area of mine, Caddo Lake. This lake lies between Texas and Louisiana and one of the best afternoons we enjoyed was cruising through the backwaters of the lake with the Spanish moss draped cypress trees. Just spectacular. To the north-east is Paris with its own Texas version of the Eiffel Tower and Texarkana, which is unique in that the city is divided down the middle by two states, Texas and Arkansas. When I ventured south down through Waxahachie, Corsicana, Athens, Palestine and infamous Waco into the Hill Country, a pleasant surprise awaited in San Antonio, the 2nd largest city in Texas (behind Houston) and 8th largest in the U.S.. It is the most popular tourist location in Texas and once you visit, you will see why. There are various old missions down there, the famous River Walk with its restaurants and shops and of course The Alamo. Austin is also known as the Home of the Blues. A wonderful mixture of music oozes from nightclubs and bars and the restaurants are plentiful and excellent as well. The New Braunfels, San Marcos and Canyon Lake area is popular with river tubing and fishing on the Guadeloupe River and there is an influence of German heritage in this area. We did a short trip from San Antonio to Gonzales (halfway to Houston). This little town proved to be quite and expected delight and very significant in the origins of Texas. Shiner was a great little place to tour the Shiner Bock Brewery and so some sampling as well. Houston is a great stop off to see the Nasa Space centre just south of the city. A detour east will take you to San Jacinto Memorial - La Porte which is home to the USS Texas. One place I absolutely fell in love with was Galveston, a real fascinating history of survial as well as so many interesting things to see and do. When you look at the size of Texas, I barely scratched the surface. My disappointment was in not seeing the Big Bend area or the Panhandle.

The Lone Star State

Six Flags of Texas

Notable Texans :

Quotes from Famous Texans :

I am forced to conclude that God made Texas on his day off, for pure entertainment, just to prove that all that diversity could be crammed into one section of earth by a really top hand - Author - Mary Lasswell
Houston is, without a doubt, the weirdest, most entertaining city in Texas, consisting as it does of subtropical forest, life in the fast lane, a layer of oil,cowboys and spacemen - Texas Tourism Guide
I feel safer on a racetrack than I do on Houston's freeways - Car racing legend - A.J. Foyt