WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I leave work, go home feed the fella, the cat and go out and teach music, then to bed, then back into work and..... a huge proliferation of ideas, hints tips and things to see. This is great, thank you all so much, loads to work from here. I'll be wading through all the links at lunchtime - all interesting stuff!

And, 'the dreaded guest', I'm not as green as I am grass looking (UK saying for I'm not stupid). And I'm going to ignore any of your hints about going up to a tatooed man and telling him I'm a yankee, a for the obvious, and b, because I'm Welsh, and c you are trying to get me in the horse pucky!

I've been to a fair few dodgy places so far, to be able to handle myself and the situations (steer clear is my fave advice).

But you did come up with some handy ideas too - so thanks! Oh, and I've been to Austria, nice place - lots of hills and green!

Stilly river stage, some fab links there and history too - I'll enjoy looking through these. Do you work in a state park? I'd probably like to go to one, I love being outdoors - despite the warning of fire ants and spiders.... big gulp!

Joe, thanks for your description of the spiders - you hit me at my weakest point - I must say your description of tarantulas has freaked me a bit, I don't do 'Spiders' in the UK... and tarantulas are bigger (much much) than our spiders here, which are big enough for me anyway. So I may have to come armed with a big shoe, a loud hailer so everyone hears my screams. I don't think my 'Bug catcha' I bought to humanely dispose of pesky house spiders would fit a tarantula, I may have to order a bigger one.

Wesley - I've driven accross South Africa last year, from Botswana down to Cape Town - did it in two days on the way down and in 15 hours on the way back. So, no skin off my nose - and it was an experience - roads you could see for miles, with only sand, bushes, scrub land and the odd ostrich, springbok and other animals to spot on our way past. And I love art - so museums and such a big yes!

Mary in Kentucky.... No, it's not Fib, it's a school friend I grew up with - a fellow Welsh lass. Who moved to Washington about 10 years ago, and now is moving down to Texas. She is a good friend, who first of all took settling down in the USA very hard, but now loves it there - though we all miss her dreadfully.

OH... me fella has it in his head to go out on a ranch and do a bit of horse riding... which would be a fun thing for me - as he's never been horse riding, it's me that does that over in the UK - though not very often. I keep trying to tell him how sore he'll be after one hour horse riding, but uh no!

The main things I'd like to see, are the natural wonders/places and countryside... I like towns, but prefer the country and getting out and about.

Right, I'd better go do some work... Thanks you lot for some wonderful ideas... I know that if and when I do come to visit Texas, I'll probably be asked a lot about my accent. When I did the East coast I was constantly asked about it - talk about sticking out like a sore thumb!

cheers - what a great resource!

Ella