RVing Through Texas

Stop for a moment and play a word-association game. The word is Texas. What comes to mind?  Probably a thousand different words, but very likely something related to the enormity, vastness and gigantic expanse of our nation’s 28th state.
At 266,807 square miles, it’s larger than every European country but Russia. It’s so big that it takes two time zones to cover the width of the state. In January, it can be 90 degrees in the south with blizzard conditions in the panhandle, according to Encyclopaedia (cq) Britannica.
So why RV through it? One answer comes from the Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism’s Web site: “It’s like a whole other country.”  Seven countries would be more like it. There are seven regions within this sprawling and amazingly diverse state, all rich with history, culture and flavors all their own.
There’s Big Bend Country, of which El Paso is the largest city. It’s the area of tumbleweeds, cactus and stars as far as the eye can see at night. There’s the South Texas Plains, the Tex-Mex area offering spicy food, rich culture and warm climate. The Gulf Coast stretches for 624 miles, from South Padre Island and Brownsville northeast towards Houston, dotted with cities and towns, peninsulas and islands, beaches and parks. Fifty lakes and reservoirs dot the prairies and farmlands of the Prairies and Lakes region. Plus it also has Big D – Dallas – and its sister city, Ft. Worth. The storied Hill Country in the heart of the state offers undulating hills studded with cedars, clear rolling rivers and abundant Spring wildflowers. The Panhandle Plains, vast and flat, reach north towards Oklahoma and offer scarlet sunsets along a horizon that seems to go on forever. The Piney Woods along the Texas-Arkansas border welcomes pilgrims from the east with a lush green landscape dotted with lakes, rivers, azaleas and dogwoods. All across the Lone Star State, you’ll find a plethora of outdoor activities and opportunities, including fishing, camping, hiking, golf, boating, horseback riding and much, much more.
“You can do so many things,” says Meredith Spurgeon, an account executive at Vollmer Public Relations in Austin, which works closely with the state tourism office. “There are so many different aspects to it.”
It could take forever to see everything this great state has to offer, so consider this a Texas sampler, starting in the West and moving in a counter-clockwise loop.

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