What's Texas Life Like?

[ProMac1K]

I've always wondered what it would be like to live down in Texas, for some reason! What is Texas life like? Is it always warm down there? Is their any agricultural areas down there like up here in MN, or is it all oil-fields? What do you guys, and gals, do for fun down there? Just thought I had to ask this.



Thanks!!

 

[RustyJC]

Texas is far too diverse to put into one category. For instance -



Upper Gulf Coast - relatively flat, somewhat swampy, heavily forested where development hasn't cleared the land, fair beaches, similar to Louisiana



East Texas Piney Woods - heavily forested such that one cannot even walk through native Piney Woods growth, timber industry, lakes



Northeast Texas - agricultural (looks a lot like central Ohio around Texarkana), oil around Tyler, Longview, Kilgore



Central Texas Hill Country - rolling hills, lakes, ranching, moderately forested. One of the most attractive areas of the state IMHO.



Northwest Texas (on the caprock) - Llano Estacado (staked plains), absolutely flat, few or no trees, wheat farming and ranching, cotton farming, very much like Kansas



West Texas - sandhills, mesquite, some mesas around Iraan, McCamey, etc. , ranching and oil



South Texas - scrub brush, ranching



Big Bend/Davis Mountains - mountains (southern end of the Rockies) and high desert. Excellent climate, very thinly populated.



So, take your pick! :-laf



Rusty

 

[ProMac1K]

Wow!!

 

[Cummnzpowr]

Texas

Rusty you didn't tell him about the weather :-laf it's either HOT or Cold. . January,February are south Texas's coldest months it seems and it still stays above zero. Summers here in San Antonio absolutely s^ck, very humid the more south and towards the coast you go and more dry the farther north of course. Overall, the weather is the biggest downfall here. . i do like the Thunderstorms in the summer though! Oo.

 

[RustyJC]

Yep, we don't have to deal with ice and snow here on the Upper Gulf Coast (it might get into the mid to upper 20's a few times during the winter), but there is the occasional tropical storm or hurricane! Summers are hot and humid.



South Texas has mild winters (they raise citrus fruit in the Rio Grande valley, like Florida) and hot summers.



Northeast Texas gets some ice storms in winter with hot, humid summers.



Northwest Texas has probably the most extreme weather - cold winters and tornado alley in the springs and into the summers around Lubbock and Amarillo.



West Texas can get into the teens in the winter with hot, dry summers.



Because of the elevation, the Big Bend/Davis Mountains area probably has the best summer climate - mid 80's to low 90's with relatively low humidity. Afternoon mountain showers. Winter can bring some snow, but normally nothing major.



Rusty

 

[AfterBurner]

Rusty seems to know the Davis Mountain area pretty good!

If you get down into Big Bend in the summer you are pretty much garunteed 100+ temps. But, if a shower comes through, watch out! the temp is likely to plumet 40 degrees in less than an hour. Since it is dry heat, it's not so bad, as long as drink plenty of water.

Aslong as we are having a good year (getting rain) the Davis mountains do stay fairly cool. the past few years however, it has been EXTREMELY dry, so we have also had many days at 100+.

In about a week the wind starts blowing and doesn't stop until June. Unlike the hill country, west texas is not very pretty in the Spring. It's not rare to have 60+ mph winds all day, blowing everything it can pick up!

June the winds let up and the rains come (hopefully), and everything greens up and gets pretty. August is the prettiest and has the best weather.

Like he said, we get a little snow, usually not more than 1. 5 ft a year, but we have had a few blizzards . the mountains break up tornados, so those are rare, but all in all we have great weather.

And yes, we are a very rural area, but it is growing (too much for my liking).

Lots of ranching, tourism, and retired folks, and drug runners.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

Texas is huge... there are so many different areas... if you want country life, there's plenty of it... different terrain... plains, hills, piney woods, etc.



city life? you want big hustle/bustle, go DFW... you wanna laugh at hippies, go Austin... you wanna smell petroleum and sweat like you've never sweat before, go Houston



it's just so large... whatever you're looking for, you can probably find it in TX.



oh, and don't worry about the weather... you'll never get used to it... it was in the 30's a week or so ago... been overcast and cold lately, and then we've had three days in a row of beautiful warm sun.



Forrest

 

[Tony T.]

Texas

As far as cold goes here in North Texas it's a different kind of cold more humidity. Seems the cold goes right through you at times if the wind is blowing. Place I use to work, had a guy from Iowa start working there and he commented one day I thought it didn't get cold in Texas I'm freezing to death and it was only in the upper 20's that day. If the wind is not blowing it's not that bad to me.



I had another friend one time, that moved here from Salina, KS he said I thought every body would be wearing boots and cowboy hats and have a oil well in their backyard. He was serious. :-laf



Tony

 

[GFrance]

I had another friend one time, that moved here from Salina, KS he said I thought every body would be wearing boots and cowboy hats and have a oil well in their backyard. He was serious. :-laf



Tony

You mean they dont? Now I'm disapointed. The wife has relations in El Paso, Thought we might make it down that way one of these years. I really wanted to get a ten gallon hat so I'd fit in. :-laf

 

[ProMac1K]

Thanks everyone. I'm in the market for employment after I get out of college this summer. Not many jobs around here for what I want to do. One very local, but small and a current one-two man operation. It seems its either head to the Twin Cities and bring luck because you can strike it good, or head due south.



I don't like hot, humid weather the most. I guess it can be survivable though. Might help whip me in shape a little better. I was watching a video of DIS' in Dallas and they were video taping snow falling, thought that was pretty cool for Texas. I like rural areas but wouldn't mind exploring a bit of the city life, if it's fun. I'm not a fan of large bodies of water. :-laf Geeez, it sounds like i'm a contestant on The Dating Game.



What's the social life like down there? Is it pretty social and "country like", or are their lots of 'cliques'. Are each of the different areas communites a lot different from each other? What are the people like down there? Are the ladies and girls a lot different than they are up here? Values any different than anywhere else? That is important too.....



Thanks,

Trever

 

[ProMac1K]

I really wanted to get a ten gallon hat so I'd fit in. :-laf

Nawwww, a five gallon oil pail should do. :-laf

 

[tURBOdIEZEl]

texas is the place to be!!! ive been living up in pa now for the last couple years, but a native texan non the less. i hope to be transferring this spring to the dallas area. hot summers, warm/mild winters. NO SNOW!!!!! i love the sound of that. . LOL :-laf

 

[Boomer II]

It was 84 here in the DFW area yesterday, about 45 this morning. Winter in North Texas is usually pretty mild, the occasional ice/snow storm but not very often. Summers are hot humid muthers, humidity is worse on the coast. The Hill country and Big Bend/Davis Mtn. area are my favorite.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

One thing - there isn't a state income tax. But they do make up for it if you own property.

 

[ProMac1K]

Thanks again everyone!



Sounds too warm for me, for one thing.



Anyone familiar with the StrokerMotor building place in Dallas?

 

[AfterBurner]

Now, if you go and start counting the area that the republic or TX use to hold, we could add another 2 pages. Use to run all the way up to WY

Not to mention the fact that we can still legally secced (or however you say it) from the union, if we really had to.

Like any state, I guess, TX has lots of cool stuff about it.

CO seems to be lacking in diversity after living in TX!

 

[JEccles]

Texas Rules! my buddy took this pick of me on the old GS just outside Big Bend... ... we were cruising at about 90 later that day and rolled up on a border patrol truck and they just moved out of the way and waved as two 70's straight piped superbikes passed at 90+... ... then i blew my head gasket but thats another story. :-laf

 

[ProMac1K]

Wow, that looks dry!

 

[RustyJC]

Yup. The plains areas between the mountain ranges in the Big Bend country are considered high desert.



Rusty

 

[JEccles]

the rio-grande river is just on the other side of those hills... ... . Texas is the Bomb.