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When standing in El Paso, Texas, you’re closer to Los Angeles than to Texarkana on the other side of the state. If standing in Brownsville, Texas you are 475 miles from Mexico City, but almost 800 miles from Amarillo. There’s a lot to explore here. The second largest canyon in the U.S., Palo Duro, is found here, a fact not well known, even in Texas. It was the site of the last war fought with the Indians of the western plains as the U.S. Army subjugated the aboriginal to reservations.
At dusk 20 million bats emerge from a cave near San Antonio every night to feed on 250 tons of insects like cotton boll moths, rendering an invaluable service to farmers. Texas has become an important wine producing state! The well known and the little known converge to keep viewers engrossed and entranced.
There is a longhorn roundup yet today, in Big Bend Ranch, lasting three days. Over a quarter million acres of rugged land, it is now a state park, and visitors can join in the annual April roundup, by making a reservation. It’s still a working event with roping, branding, and chaotic activity. McDonald Observatory is close by in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. With its four telescopes and clear air, we can contemplate the vastness of the Cosmos and the insignificance of our own place in what seems the infinity of it. From the scientific to the pseudoscientific, the Marfa Lights are out here in West Texas too. Mysterious lights can still be seen from time to time just east of the town of Marfa. Some claim they are just reflections from auto lights, but they were first observed in 1883 by ranchers in the area. This is on the 31st Parallel, and on the same Parallel in East Texas, in the Big Thicket, there are similar ghost lights... often seen, but still unexplained. We’ll take a look too. On the way from West Texas to East, we visit San Antonio where we find The Alamo, the icon of Texas and Texas independence. In 1836 around 200 men fought against the Army of Mexican General Santa Anna. On March 6, in one battle which may have lasted longer in the movie than in reality, the Texicans were defeated. But the Alamo became a symbol for Texas independence into a separate Nation for a time. The center of San Antonio at one time was in a serious state of decline and disrepair. But an energetic restoration project has turned the heart of the city along the course of the San Antonio River into a walkway lined with restaurants, shops and hotels where ducks and birds now reside. The city has about a million and a half population... now larger than official Dallas, though Dallas serves a larger metroplex population of about six and a half million. In Austin, Dell Computer maintains a 2 million square foot facility and employes 10,000 here. The University of Texas tries to educate 50,000 students. A tier one research facility, there are ongoing projects in the Nano Laboratory... research projects in the microcosmic world of the ultra small. Outside of Austin the bluebonnets are in bloom... huge expanses of blue lupines cover the landscape in places. We can find Enchanted Rock here. It is Texas’ version of Ayers Rock in Australia... a huge dome of solid granite rising 425 above the surroundings, covering one square mile... 640 acres. The Tonkawa Indians believed the rock talked, as it creaks and groans during heating and cooling each day. At 42 stories high, it’s a nice climb.
In Houston we can find M.D. Anderson Medical Center, perhaps the foremost cancer treatment and research center in the world. It’s part of the Houston medical complex where Dr. Michael DeBakey pioneered numerous surgical procedures for heart treatments. The Big Thicket is just to the east. Originally a forested area of three and a half million acres, it was a refuge for outlaws and other loners historically. It is unique in the U.S. because of the variety of plants found here... the only place in the south where maple trees grow naturally, for example. Cypress and cactus grow practically side by side. One of the last places to find the now extinct ivory billed woodpecker, home to bears, deer and cougar, five disconnected land parcels have been set aside as Big Thicket National Preserve to save some of the original wild space. In Dallas, we will visit Dealey Plaza, site of John Kennedy’s assassination, and still a draw to millions of visitors. The city itself is a vibrant caldron of traffic and industry, and part of the technological business that thrives in Texas. Nearby Ft. Worth still maintains its stockyards, where a remnant herd of longhorns parade by every day. We find the Bureau of Engraving and Printing here, one of only two places where U.S. currency is printed... which may seem appropriate for Texas. As the second most populace state, with over 24 million people, there are changes that may portend a new America. Less than half the population of Texas is Caucasian. Texas was once part of Mexico. There are still strong ties with its people. Customer Reviews:
Our Kearney Noon Rotary club has sponsored the Travel & Adventure Series for 21 years and have been privileged to have Dale Johnson present many shows for our series and he has always been a presenter that our audiences have looked forward to and this show is no expection. The Texas show is extremely well done and the way Dale presents the show captivated our attention for the entire show. I would highly recommend this show or any of Dale Johnson's films.
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Football is the state religion, oil is the life blood, agriculture and cattle are the foundation. NASA, metroplexes, the Big Thicket, a technological Silicone Valley around Austin, the Capitol, all fascinating in and of themselves. 
In the R
• Texas Highways and Byways • June 23, 2011 