1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

Not sure how long you lived in Texas but it was my home for 32 years, and one of my favorite things to do was driving around with a friend or children, listening to music and looking at the scenery of the Hill Country and Texas west of it, along with the coast and south Texas while hunting, and through the piney woods of east Texas. Lots of beautiful places , although with so much of the building, it's losing acreage every year due to greed.

I grew up in the SF bay area....30 minutes away from the Pacific Coast & 3 hours away from Tahoe & the Sierras and all that they have to offer....

In Texas there really isn't much that can compare....

I have found it nice around Lake Livingston....However, our vehicles are stored near Beaumont - close to family and, outside of Galveston, there isn't much....

Comparing Texas to all the western states...

I drove to San Antonio because my wife wanted to do the River Walk.....Buc'ees was the best part of those miles.....Only trouble is there's always something else worth buying while experiencing a Buc'ees...

Walk in for a sandwich - walk out $100+ later..... 😆

2 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

I grew up in the SF bay area....30 minutes away from the Pacific Coast & 3 hours away from Tahoe & the Sierras and all that they have to offer....

In Texas there really isn't much that can compare....

I have found it nice around Lake Livingston....However, our vehicles are stored near Beaumont - close to family and, outside of Galveston, there isn't much....

Comparing Texas to all the western states....

No Rocky Mountains in Texas, but it has it's own beauty. The same with New Jersey where I'm from. Some only see city after city until you get into the mountains and realize you could get lost if you aren't careful. Each state has it's own charms and interesting places.

Some think of New York as NYC, the Bronx and Brooklyn but the state is huge, and it has wilderness areas.

Texas is pretty big, and has a lot of really nice places if you get around and away from the cities. Also a 12 month decent to great weather, whereas some of the most beautiful places are snowbound a lot of the year.

I left New Jersey because it was cold too long, but would have a house there if I had enough because it was home for 30 years and is still a lot of country in the northwest, south and western areas. The real problem with Texas is so many who have moved there the last 2 decades from the east, north and California because of the lower priced homes, but the developers are ruining a lot of it. Most of the nice places are far away from the large cities.

Definitely gets harder, I remember the olden days with a visa run to Laos (I loved those trips) after 3 months here. 3 more months and then back to London and work for a stint.

Now any more than a 15 minute walk to the pub or a coffee gaff seems like an imposition.

1 hour ago, saintdomingo said:

Definitely gets harder, I remember the olden days with a visa run to Laos (I loved those trips) after 3 months here. 3 more months and then back to London and work for a stint.

Now any more than a 15 minute walk to the pub or a coffee gaff seems like an imposition.

You're right. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to travel to some of the remote islands in the South Pacific and enjoy myself. At 86, those days are over for me, but I still cherish those memories.