Texans are known for their big bragging. During the construction of the Alaskan oil pipeline, Texans migrated to Alaska and brought their bragging with them. Alaskans’ retort about the size of Texas, “If you don’t shut up, we’ll cut Alaska in two and Texas will be the third largest state”.
Driving across Texas (something you can’t do in Alaska) takes a very, very long time. Alaska has four highways that cover 1,082 miles, Texas has 675,580 miles of road. Size matters. Alaska is bigger, but you can’t drive to the majority of the state. Texas roads are in better conditions than other Southern states, Texans’ like oil.
Ruth and I sold our Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill homes in June 2016. We pinch ourselves we got out before the catastrophe. Dr. Ruth is teaching at the LBJ School at University of Texas. I am thankfully retired! I have to say I really enjoy Austin, and appreciate having a wonderful friend living there. Especially, since Ruth’s neighborhood allows me to park Scout on the street in front of her house.
Austin has great food, music, dive bars, Tex-Mex food, movie theaters, and grocery stores. Austin is the home of Whole Foods, but the competition is fierce. I never shop at Whole Foods, (or Wal-Mart), because the store owners are virulently anti-union. Not that grocery stores in Texas are unionized, but my politics are national.
H.E.B. is a Texas-based grocery store chain and it’s a premier grocery store – City Market, beats Whole Foods, Wegman’s or any other grocery stores hands down – no contest! H.E.B.’s City Market is amazing, I could spend all day there!
Some people go to museums, I go to grocery stores and dog parks. 
Austin also has one of our favorite dog parks, Red Bud Island, at Lake Austin. A water-locked finger of land, with no escape so dogs are free to run, play or swim.
Driving west, it was my hope to visit the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) historic home near Fredericksburg, TX. However, when I left Ruth’s Austin home temperatures were dropping into the 30’s with 50 mile an hour wind gusts, making visiting the ranch unappealing. I plan to return to Texas in May and spend some time exploring Big Bend National Park, San Antonio, and Fredericksburg wine tasting and historic sites.
I also hope to join my friend Beth on her ranch for horse riding. East Texas is growing on me. It’s a bit too cold in winter, but May might be the perfect time to visit.
On to Tucson and Palm Springs, I see golf in my future.
Keep on going’, dear pal! I enjoy your blog and always read it first in a long list of emails. Thank you, Alison.