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Never been to the Rockies but I love the Sierras and Cascades.
Now, now - the photos I posted of Texas "mountains" were not in the Hill Country!
I've never been to the Cascades, but I am sure they are beautiful! I love mountain scenery.
But if I have to choose mountains or beach, I'll default to beach any time! That's my one complaint about living where I do in Texas. A good beach is at least a seven hour drive from me, and the best Texas beaches (South Padre) are a 9 hour drive. Dang!
The desert in Texas is part of The Chihuahuan Desert, which is the largest desert in North America. It's milder in temps than the Sonoran or Mojave, though -- perhaps why there is slightly more vegetation.
I think the Texas mountain ranges of the Chisos Mountains (Big Bend), Guadalupe Mountains, and Franklin Mountains are all part of this desert.
It may be the largest (I thought the Great Basin was) but most of it is outside of Texas. My point was that Texas has a varied landscape and should not be thought of as just one thing. I live in a dynamic state as well but most people only think of it as one or two things.
Now, now - the photos I posted of Texas "mountains" were not in the Hill Country!
I've never been to the Cascades, but I am sure they are beautiful! I love mountain scenery.
But if I have to choose mountains or beach, I'll default to beach any time! That's my one complaint about living where I do in Texas. A good beach is at least a seven hour drive from me, and the best Texas beaches (South Padre) are a 9 hour drive. Dang!
They're still hills
You bring up another great point; Texas also has many miles of beaches. Some very nice ones. In fact many people might prefer the Texas beaches to those in CA as the water in Texas is warm, not freezing like it is here.
Speaking as a native Texan who lived in various European nations...
I never met anyone who thought I was 'better' than the average American because I am from Texas. I think some of them thought I was more interesting, but that's not quite the same thing.
I got a lot of well-meaning but silly/ignorant questions. Most people were genuinely curious about Texas and it does seem to have a sort of mythic quality for some Europeans. I answered questions over and over like:
Did you ride a horse to school?
Did your home have indoor plumbing?
Do you have/did you grow up on a ranch?
Are there cows everywhere?
Do people wear cowboy hats?
Do people really put horns on their cars?
Is/was your family in the oil business?
What kind of food do you eat...chili and cornbread?
What's a taco?
Do people really carry guns all over the place?
Have you ever seen anyone get shot?
What's a rodeo?
Most people were friendly. Some were hostile, especially after George W. Bush became president. They associated Texas with him and assumed that most if not all Texans supported him. They were surprised when I told them I did not support Bush and had never voted for him in any election. Attitudes towards Americans in general and Texans in particular hardened across Europe after Bush was elected; it eased up after 9/11, but then got much worse after the start of the Iraq War. Poland was a notable exception; it seemed to me that most Poles genuinely liked Americans and were largely supportive of Bush.
YMMV.
I left Europe in 2007, so attitudes may have changed since then. Maybe they like us more now that there's a Democrat in the White House. It does seem that Europeans have more charitable attitudes towards us when there's a D POTUS.
Speaking as a native Texan who lived in various European nations...
I never met anyone who thought I was 'better' than the average American because I am from Texas. I think some of them thought I was more interesting, but that's not quite the same thing.
I got a lot of well-meaning but silly/ignorant questions. Most people were genuinely curious about Texas and it does seem to have a sort of mythic quality for some Europeans. I answered questions over and over like:
Did you ride a horse to school?
Did your home have indoor plumbing?
Do you have/did you grow up on a ranch?
Are there cows everywhere?
Do people wear cowboy hats?
Do people really put horns on their cars?
Is/was your family in the oil business?
What kind of food do you eat...chili and cornbread?
What's a taco?
Do people really carry guns all over the place?
Have you ever seen anyone get shot?
What's a rodeo?
Most people were friendly. Some were hostile, especially after George W. Bush became president. They associated Texas with him and assumed that most if not all Texans supported him. They were surprised when I told them I did not support Bush and had never voted for him in any election. Attitudes towards Americans in general and Texans in particular hardened across Europe after Bush was elected; it eased up after 9/11, but then got much worse after the start of the Iraq War. Poland was a notable exception; it seemed to me that most Poles genuinely liked Americans and were largely supportive of Bush.
YMMV.
I left Europe in 2007, so attitudes may have changed since then. Maybe they like us more now that there's a Democrat in the White House. It does seem that Europeans have more charitable attitudes towards us when there's a D POTUS.
It's the movies I tell ya. Miss Congeniality there are the lines; "The guy in the stetson. Agent answers, there are stetsons everywhere." Then; "Of course he has a gun this is Texas everyone has a gun. My florist has a gun". In the movie The New Guy, there were horses at the high school LOL
Most people were friendly. Some were hostile, especially after George W. Bush became president. They associated Texas with him and assumed that most if not all Texans supported him. They were surprised when I told them I did not support Bush and had never voted for him in any election. Attitudes towards Americans in general and Texans in particular hardened across Europe after Bush was elected; it eased up after 9/11, but then got much worse after the start of the Iraq War. Poland was a notable exception; it seemed to me that most Poles genuinely liked Americans and were largely supportive of Bush.
YMMV.
I left Europe in 2007, so attitudes may have changed since then. Maybe they like us more now that there's a Democrat in the White House. It does seem that Europeans have more charitable attitudes towards us when there's a D POTUS.
You must have come across a lot of uneducated buffoons there. I'm not surprised. People over there can't seem to grasp the difference between the average person and a politician. But anyway.
Those who replied to my post, had no idea Texas had green hills/mountains like that. I always thought the mountains Texas did have were bare rock. And, no, I'm not one of those that thought Texas is a desert, that's only in the far west near New Mexico in the Big Bend area to El Paso.
You must have come across a lot of uneducated buffoons there. I'm not surprised. People over there can't seem to grasp the difference between the average person and a politician. But anyway.
It goes both way, trust me. In fact, I'd bet money there are many more here that are uneducated about Europe than vice-versa. For every 100 Europeans that can identify Texas on a map, there might be 1 American that could identify a state in a particular country in Europe... even a super well known or important one, like Bavaria or something.
It goes both way, trust me. In fact, I'd bet money there are many more here that are uneducated about Europe than vice-versa. For every 100 Europeans that can identify Texas on a map, there might be 1 American that could identify a state in a particular country in Europe... even a super well known or important one, like Bavaria or something.
It goes both way, trust me. In fact, I'd bet money there are many more here that are uneducated about Europe than vice-versa. For every 100 Europeans that can identify Texas on a map, there might be 1 American that could identify a state in a particular country in Europe... even a super well known or important one, like Bavaria or something.
I can identify France, Belgium, Germany, Croatia and Bosnia by shape alone. Of course I'm leaving out the obvious ones like Italy.
I can ID most US states but asking the Colorado/Wyoming or Kansas/North Dakota question isn't fair lol
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