As a child, Texas held a certain mystique for me. Larger than life and certainly larger than our corner of Northeast Arkansas, the Lone Star State was home to giant belt-buckle-wearing cowboys, gun-toting Texas Rangers and ♫♫Davy, Davy Crockett… King of the Wild Frontier♫♫♫.
Texas was the place of tall tales where crude oil flowed like the Mississippi River.
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| historic White Elephant Saloon, Ft. Worth, Tx |
Papa Creecy shot a wild boar while hunting in Texas. Like any proud hunter, he stuffed it and hung the beast on the wall of his den. The hog’s sharp teeth and wild eyes scared most of my friends but not me. I thought it was neat, just like Texas.
I was planning to live there someday.
When Daddy gassed up the Oldsmobile and announced we were headed to Mexico for summer vacation, the drive through Texas took DAYS, as though we traveled by covered wagon. Our first night was always spent in Texarkana, a town that straddled both Arkansas and Texas.
Do you want to sleep on the Arkansas side or the Texas side, Daddy asked? TEXAS, we cheered! The air was different at the motel on the Texas side.
Do you want to sleep on the Arkansas side or the Texas side, Daddy asked? TEXAS, we cheered! The air was different at the motel on the Texas side.
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| photo courtesy of bizjournal |
Don’t say a word until we get through Houston, Momma warned us the second afternoon of our journey. Daddy was crazy-nervous driving in all that bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic underneath tangled overpasses that reached high into the hot Texas sky. My little sister and I sat quietly in the back seat coloring. We barely moved or breathed until we came out on the other side of the city.
Queuing up to drive across the border into Mexico, I was sure we would be arrested for smuggling. What we might have been smuggling, I wasn’t sure, but I felt certain we were guilty of something. After a lengthly wait and inspection by border agents waaaaay scarier than Papa Creecy’s wild boar, we entered and exited with no problema.
Texas always held a certain mystique for me. Someday I was planning to live there.
And then I did.
talya
The Yellow Rose of Texas, c 1836-1858, became popular during the Civil War
Blogging my way through the alphabet. T is for Texas!
I’ve only been to Texas once, and didn’t get to see much of it, so I appreciate this post to get an inside look 🙂
http://www.m5carolin.blogspot.com/2013/04/thireenth-birthday.html
As a Canadian from the great Frozen North, reading about Texas is very exotic for me. Sounds so rugged, huge, a bit scary and very exciting. Funny how you dreamed of living there and that’s where you ended up going.
Another great post, Talya! 🙂
Cattitude and Gratitude
Thank you!
Don’t know much about Texas…my cousin stays in Katy. Some day we many visit.
Katy is near Houston:)
I’ve been to Texas many times and even Texarkansas. Driving the highways in the big D is as scary as the thrill rides at Six Flags over Texas.
http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/2013/04/ww-meets-atoz-t-taunting-squirrels.html
Haha Joyce. I get lost in Memphis.
I have never been to Texas but would love to go someday.
Kathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com
I lived in Texas for about six months (Houston) and loved it! Would love to go back…
I went to Texas to visit a great aunt in 1968- the year the Hemisfair was in San Antonio- I was just a little kid and the highlight of the trip was going to the Astro-Dome! I also went to the Alamo and my aunt bought me a little stuffed animal monkey that I still own! I haven’t been back since but I would love to return on a road trip when I retire.
My oldest daughter just came back from a science conference in Austin. She had a great time…lots of BIG meals.
Thanks for visiting my blog and passing my post along to Charlotte’s daughter. I will follow her now too.
Happy A-Z Tuesday!
Marey
Crescent was excited to read your post!
I’ve never been to Texas, but I know I’m missing out on a lot of great things there. Some day I hope to visit. =0)
New GFC follower here [finally] from Meet & Greet.
~Kim
http://www.2justByou.com
Thanks for following my blog! Love your WW photos!
My brother studied at the Texas A&M Uni and my niece was born in College Station Texas. Never been there but I would love to visit someday.
Oh wow. Aggies, but I won’t hold that against you:)) LOL.
My parents are from Tx., and I have a whole bunch of relatives who are Aggies! Gig ‘Em!!! 🙂
When I was 18, my plan was to graduate from college and move to Waco (of all places!).
Nice post on Texas. I remember sitting in the back seat coloring while we traveled across the state to visit out great grandmother in Tyler. We lived south of Houston and it took about three hours to get there.
The first time I took my husband to Texas to visit my family , he couldn’t stand the place and when we left to go home, he drove all day and all night until we got to Carlsbad Caverns. He said he wasn’t spending one more minute in TX. I don’t think he’s ever been back with me either.
Sunni
http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/
Texas is a great State, except for those U of T Longhorns.=) I’ve been to Texas a few times, and I have a lot of family who live in Texas, especially in Austin. I went to Houston when I was a kid, and I got to sit inside the Astrodome. It looked like a mile distance from the floor of the Astrodome to it’s roof. Ray Guy, one of the all-time great punters who played for the Oakland Raiders, actually punted a football high enough to touch that roof during an NFL game, and as I sat there in the Astrodome as a kid, that’s all I could think about.=) Years later while I was coaching an all-star ten and under basketball team, I met Jonesboro native and former Razorback and all-pro punter, Steve Cox, who was the only other punter in NFL history to hit the roof with one of his punts. Steve’s son played on my basketball team, and he and his family are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Okay, how did I get here when I’m supposed to be talking about Texas?=) As a Razorback fan, I can’t help but think about sports when someone mentions Texas, I reckon.=)