To all the Texans

[Poodleone]

Happy Independence Day!

[DD]

Yahoo!!! TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!! Think I'll go celebrate!!!

[30A Skunkape]

Let the Lone Star flow and the armadillos sing

[Miss Kitty]

...now that is a damm good looking flag!

[DD]

1. Texas is popularly known as The Lone Star State.
2. The Alamo is located in San Antonio. It is where Texas defenders fell to Mexican General Santa Anna and the phrase Remember the Alamo originated. The Alamo is considered the cradle of Texas liberty and the state's most popular historic site.
3. The lightning whelk is the official state shell.
4. Texas is the only state to have the flags of 6 different nations fly over it. They are: Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States, and the United States.
5. Although six flags have flown over Texas, there have been eight changes of government: Spanish 1519-1685, French 1685-1690, Spanish 1690-1821, Mexican 1821-1836, Republic of Texas 1836-1845, United States 1845-1861, Confederate States 1861-1865, United States 1865-present
6. The King Ranch in Texas is bigger than the state of Rhode Island.
7. During the period of July 24-26, 1979, the Tropical Storm Claudette brought 45 inches of rain to an area near Alvin, Texas, contributing to more than $600 million in damages. Claudette produced the United States 24 hour rainfall record of 43 inches.
8. More wool comes from the state of Texas than any other state in the United States.
9. Edwards Plateau in west central Texas is the top sheep growing area in the country.
10. Texas is the only state to enter the United States by treaty instead of territorial annexation.
11. The state was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845. (Some would say it still is.)
12. Texas boasts the nation's largest herd of whitetail deer.
13. A coastal live oak located near Fulton is the oldest tree in the state. The tree has an estimated age of more than 1,500 years.
14. Sam Houston, arguably the most famous Texan, was actually born in Virginia. Houston served as governor of Tennessee before coming to Texas.
15. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
16. The first offensive action of the Texas Revolution occurred in Goliad on October 9, 1835 when local colonists captured the fort and town.
17. On December 20, 1835 the first Declaration of Texas Independence was signed in Goliad and the first flag of Texas Independence was hoisted.
18. The Hertzberg Circus Museum in San Antonio contains one of the largest assortments of circusana in the world.
19. The capital city of Austin is located on the Colorado River in south-central Texas. The capitol building is made from Texas pink granite. It served as the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1840-1842.
20. Austin is considered the live music capital of the world.
21. Texas is home to Dell and Compaq computers and central Texas is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of the south.
22. Professional sports teams include the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars, Houston Astros, Houston Comets, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Texas Rangers.
23. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. The Dublin Dr Pepper, 85 miles west of Waco, still uses pure imperial cane sugar in its product. There is no period after the Dr in Dr Pepper.
24. The first suspension bridge in the United States was the Waco Bridge. Built in 1870 and still in use today as a pedestrian crossing of the Brazos River.
25. In 1836 five sites served as temporary capitals of Texas: Washington-on-the-Brazos: Harrisburg: Galveston: Velasco: and Columbia. Sam Houston moved the capital to Houston in 1837. In 1839 the capital was moved to the new town of Austin.
26. The capitol in Austin opened May 16, 1888. The dome of the building stands seven feet higher than that of the nation's Capitol in Washington, D.C.
27. Texas comes from the Hasinai Indian word tejas meaning friends or allies.
28. The armadillo is the official state mammal.
29. Texas has the first domed stadium in the country. The structure was built in Houston and opened in April 1965.
30. The Houston Comets are the only team in the country to win four back-to-back WNBA championships. 1997-2000 Cynthia Cooper remains the only player to win the WNBA Championship MVP.
31. The worst natural disaster in United States history was caused by a hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900. Over 8000 deaths were recorded.
32. The first word spoken from the moon on July 20, 1969 was Houston.
33. Texas' largest county is Brewster with 6,208 square miles.
34. Texas possesses three of the top ten most populous cities in the United States. These towns are Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.
35. El Paso is closer to Needles, California than it is to Dallas.
36. Texas includes 267,339 square miles, or 7.4% of the nation's total area.
37. The state's cattle population is estimated to be near 16 million.
38. More land is farmed in Texas than in any other state.
39. More species of bats live in Texas than in any other part of the United States.
40. Laredo is the world's largest inland port.
41. Port Lavaca has the world's longest fishing pier. Originally part of the causeway connecting the two sides of Lavaca Bay, the center span of was destroyed by Hurricane Carla in 1961.
42. The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is the world's largest rose garden. It contains 38,000 rose bushes representing 500 varieties of roses set in a 22-acre garden.
43. Amarillo has the world's largest helium well.
44. The world's first rodeo was held in Pecos on July 4, 1883.
45. The Flagship Hotel on Seawall Boulevard in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built entirely over the water.
46. The Heisman trophy is named for John William Heisman the first full-time coach and athletic director at Rice University in Houston.
47. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other comparable area in North America.
48. The Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
49. Jalapeno pepper jelly originated in Lake Jackson and was first marketed in 1978.

[Teresa]

what about all the celebs and characters from that big state?

janis joplin
meatloaf
bush family
carol burnett
lance armstrong
matthew mcconauhey

to name a very few.

my favorite big texas personality, besides our big hearted sowaller texans..
Ann Richards

Ann Richards brought a vitality and outrageousness to the governorship that had not been seen in decades.

[SWGB]

I love Ann Richards.

[DD]

A Guide To Being Texan

• Don't squat with your spurs on.
• Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
• Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier 'n puttin' it back in.
• If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.
• If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
• After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.
• Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.
• There's two theories to arguin' with a woman. Neither one works.
• If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
• Never slap a man who's chewin' tobacco.
• It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.
• Always drink upstream from the herd.
• When you give a lesson in meanness to a critter or a person, don't be surprised if they learn their lesson.
• When you're throwin' your weight around, be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else.
• The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.
• Never miss a good chance to shut up.
• There are three kinds of men.

The one that learns by reading.
The few who learn by observation.
The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.

[Miss Kitty]

...I borrowed one of those!

[30A Skunkape]

Where?

[DD]

...I borrowed one of those!

[Miss Kitty]

Where?

...look at my sig line...and then go check out that thread with the 30A beach order locations.

[peapod1980]

Wow, I celebrated without even realizing it--a Dallas friend came into town, and we treated him to dinner tonight!

[Miss Kitty]

Wow, I celebrated without even realizing it--a Dallas friend came into town, and we treated him to dinner tonight!

Sweet!

[DD]

Wow, I celebrated without even realizing it--a Dallas friend came into town, and we treated him to dinner tonight!

Thanks for being kind to a Texan.

[30A Skunkape]

We had pizza, does that count?

[30A Skunkape]

A father watched his daughter playing in the garden. He smiled as he

reflected on how sweet and innocent his little girl was.

Suddenly she just stopped and stared at the ground. He went over to her and

noticed she was looking at two spiders mating.

"Daddy, what are those two spiders doing?" she asked.

"They’re mating," her father replied.

"What do you call the spider on top, Daddy?" she asked.

"That’s a Daddy Longlegs," her father answered.

"So, the other one is Mommy Longlegs?" the little girl asked.

"No," her father replied. "Both of them are Daddy Longlegs.

The little girl thought for a moment, then she stomped them flat and said

"Well, it might be okay in California, Vermont, and New York, but we’re not having any of that **** in Texas."

[Miss Kitty]

...you got that effing right!

[DD]

You know you're 100% Texan if...


It doesn't bother you to use an airport named for a man who died in an airplane crash.
You use the phrase "fixin' to" almost daily.
Someone you know has used a football schedule to plan their wedding date.
You've ever been excused from school because "the cows got out."
You can properly pronounce the town Mexia, Waxahachie and Mesquite.
You can remember the name of the last state legislator to introduce a bill involving castration and he didn't mean farm animals.
You know exactly what calf fries are, and eat them anyway.
You can recall hot summers by the year they happened easier than you can remember your mother's birthday.
You think that people who complain about the wind in their states are sissies.
The only three letters scarier than P.M.S. is D.P.S.
You know that the true value of a parking space is not determined by the distance to the door but by the availability of shade.
You have owned at least one belt buckle bigger than your fist.
A bad traffic jam involves two cars staring each other down at a four-way stop, each determined to be the most polite and let the other one go first.
When you hear a tornado siren, you go out and look for a funnel.
Your "place at the lake" has wheels under it.
You aren't surprised to find movie rental, ammunition, and bait all in the same store.
A Mercedes Benz is not a status symbol. A Chevy Silverado 3500 Extended Cab is.
You know that everything goes better with Ranch.
You learned how to shoot a gun before you learned how to multiply. You have had this conversation:
"You wanna Coke?"
"Yep"
"What kind?"
"Dr. Pepper

[SWGB]

...you got that effing right!

I believe the term is:

Steers and Queers

[hnooe]

Go Texas! I like Austin, ZZ Top, and the late Ann Richards, in that order.

[Jdarg]

...I borrowed one of those!

Me too!

[Bob]

Sorry, I can't resist.... Texas Toast

[hnooe]

Sorry, I can't resist.... Texas Toast

Be nice!

[SWGB]

Sorry, I can't resist.... Texas Toast

I really tried to avoid the obvious.

[Beachbummett]

I lived there for four years and graduated from Rice...does this make me a Texan?


Miss Kitty since you are in Houston....have you passed this?

[DD]

I lived there for four years and graduated from Rice...does this make me a Texan?


Miss Kitty since you are in Houston....have you passed this?

Honorary.

[Beachbummett]

Honorary.

FFF says I'm just ornery!


Texas is neither southern nor western. Texas is Texas! I loved living in Texas! It really is it's own place.

[DD]

FFF says I'm just ornery!


Texas is neither southern nor western. Texas is Texas! I loved living in Texas! It really is it's on place.

That FFF!!

Texas is it's own country.

[Miss Kitty]

I lived there for four years and graduated from Rice...does this make me a Texan?


Miss Kitty since you are in Houston....have you passed this?

You have a degree in Texan! No, haven't seen your alma mater this trip...thank goodness, that means no hospitals this time!