Texas Woodworking

Carol Reed

In Memoriam
Messages
5,533
Location
Coolidge, AZ
Hey all,

Been off-line for a couple of months, but I am back.

During the break, an opportunity to perhaps move to Texas presented itself. I am open to dry warm climates, the actual destination yet to be determined.

So, homework begins. Tell me the best rural communities in which to live. Rural is no local WalMart!

And tell me why it gets your vote.

Field trip next fall to investigate personally.
 
Carol, I've only driven through it, but members here Sam Blasco and Edward Alexander live in Smithville, TX. It seems to be a great town for those who can produce beatiful woodcraft...you'd fit right in. :thumb:

Welcome Back Too!
 
In answer to your query.

I can answer that without problem.
SCHULENBURG, TX 78956
I have owned a farm there for fifty years this month. I worked there and was a teacher there before graduate degrees moved me to Denton. Denton is a great surburban town; but Schulenburg is special. Centrally located where US 77 crosses I 10. Equidistant from San Antonio and Houston. No Walmart; it has on "supermarket", a Tru-Value hardware, one lumber yard and three feed stores. A movie hall and hotel combination that is a historic landmark, one of the oldest continuing operating movie houses in USA..

Goggle Schulenburg and you will find we have a half dozen nice emplyers; a very good school system whose only fault is FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER.

My daughter and I made a one day trip down there yesterday to bring here last two mares to Denton. She lived on the farm for the past twenty years raising arabian horse, charolais cattle and taught in a local district. She moved home for the last years of teaching (more money you know) and she can't wait to get back. It was settled by German and Bohemiam farmers mid-way 19th century.

I love the town and counttry; I go down frequenty for two to four weeks a time. You want more just ask...... If you want ny e-mail address just PM me................Ray Gerdes
 
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If I did not have to work or have convince of a big city I would move a good bit west of San Antonio. Sanora and Ozona are neat little towns that I would truly consider. While these towns will grow I don't think you will see the development because they are fairly isolated. Still for big city's in Texas my favorite is where I live San Antonio, it is pretty hard to beat. There are lots of neat towns in the Hill Country like Ingram, Harper, Sisterdale etc but that part of Texas is growing like crazy, However there is a neat little town that I don't see as much development and that is Tarpley. It is on the western edge of the Texas Hill country it is fairly close To San Antonio and close to a lot of Mesquite:).

Good Luck

Alan
 
Ray, Schulenburg look like a really nice town. I can see why you recommend it. I wonder though if it will be dry enough. Since Carol is coming from Arizona, warm & dry may have to mean West Texas. Maybe Carol can define how dry she needs it to be.
 
re: TEXAS

Under many conditions I would agree with Alan; and the dryness certainly would be a major consideration
I was borne and raised in San Antonio and it certainly is my favorite City. His hill country ideas are great. My mother was from Comfort which used to be way out yonder; but, now it is virtually a suburb and landd there is very, very pricey. Go west of Junction if you need dry; there are fifty nice towns between Kerrville and San Angelo. If you want a thirty inch annual rainfall you can't beat Schulenburg. The reply mentioning Smithville in right on target also. It is nice for a RR town and it's right on the river if you want to fish. Enjoy your hunt.

Ray Gerdes in beautiful TEXAS.
 
Green Acres, Texas

Green acres is the place to be
Farm living is the life for me
Land spreading out,
so far and wide
Keep Manhattan,
just give me that countryside.

mongolia-kk1.jpg
 
Lots of nice places in Tejas. But if you want dry, you need west Texas (as opposed to West, Texas :p ). I love the Hill Country around Austin and west of there, but if allergies are a problem for you, then you need the western part of the state. I have problems every year with the mountain cedar from the Hill country.
You say an opportunity to move to Texas came up...is this a work related move of any sort? That may place some requirements that will need to be considered.
Good luck with your decision to move. I moved to Texas to go to school in 1974 and never left! Jim (who has to be closer to town for his job)
 
Carol, check out Vega, Texas. About 20 miles west of Amarillo on I-40, no WalMart, in fact not much of anything there, but near enough to the "big city" to make it easy to do serious shopping.

Glad to see you back.
 
Carol,

I would move to the hill country in a flash. People around there may think it's expensive, but compared to the coasts it's cheap.

I would not consider (mid) west Texas for anything. Nothing against it, I just like actual features in the landscape... ;) Midland, Odessa, Pecos... just not my favorite.

On the other hand, somewhere in the Fredricksberg-Austin-San Antonio triangle, that would be nice. My cousin used to have some land up there, and we'd go over to visit from Houston. Very, very pleasant. ;)

Good luck!

Thanks,

Bill
 
I grew up in Houston, you don't want to live there.

I went to school in Nacogdoches. I really like it, but it is probably too big and East Texas can be humid. I wouldn't mind living there, but it would be hard for me to commute to work.

I live in Granbury. Nice sized town, 45 minutes to Ft. Worth. Granbury has a hospital, but for major stuff, it is nice to be close to a big city. We do have a Walmart, sorry, but we also have lots of history. Davy Crockett's wife got her land here after he died at the Alamo. She is buried in the cemetary in nearby Acton. We have one of the few drive in movie theaters left, and we also have an historic playhouse, and historic town square. Granbury was featured on CNN on the Millennium New Year's Eve show as a typical "small town in Texas". If you don't want to live close to town, there is plenty of ranchland and smaller towns nearby.

If you like the hill country, and I do, try Fredericksburg, although you will get sick of the tourists on weekends. When you come visit, check out nearby Enchanted Rock State Park. Second largest monolithic dome in the US behind Stone Mountain Georgia.

If you want really small, try Dime Box or Lukenbach, you surely won't have to worry about a Walmart at either place.

If you like the high plains, there are plenty of small towns near Amarillo and Lubbock. If you saw "Castaway", that ranch with the lady with the package (you know, the one with the satellite phone?) is east of Amarillo.

Stay away from the coast, too many hurricanes.

The Big Bend area is also nice, lots of wide open spaces out there.

Give yourself 6 months to tour the state, then try to pick your favorite spot!:D

Seriously, if you make it to Granbury, give me some advance warning, and I'll try to be home to show you around.
 
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Granbury is a nice area. I spent a few weeks there while my company was building a combined cycle power plant. I was there during the winter, it would be interesting to see it during the the other three seasons. I did not have time to visit much Martin, sounds like I missed out.
 
Even though there have been some nice places mentioned, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Ft. Davis area. Ft. Davis (has no Walmart):D and for Bill lantry, There ARE Mts, The Mc Donald Observatory, with three big Telescopes is only a few miles up the Mountain, it is a DRY climate, has a historic old Fort, is quiet and quite a few Artists have moved to the surrounding area. It is located S of I-10 (39 miles S of Balmorhea), 25 miles NE of Marfa, and 26 miles NW of Alpine, (now both of those have a Walmart, IIRC).:rofl::rofl::rofl: The closest Airline Service would be El Paso or Midland/Odessa, and "MAJOR" medical facilities would be Odessa and El Paso, with Life Flight Helicopter Service out of Odessa. There are smaller Medical Facilities in Ft. Stockton and Alpine, (not sure about Marfa).:dunno:

There are basically Five totally different Landscape/Geological areas in Tx, and a wide variety of climatical conditions exist across the state.

Have fun on your Tour and pick the area that is "Right" for YOU.:thumb:
 
Hey, look at that:

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2980608

Actual geographical features! ;) Somewhere off in the distance! ;) If you squint! ;)

Just teasing, Norman. Doorlink gets mad at me, because what she calls mountains in Vermont, I call bumps. ;) It comes from climbing in the sierras in my misspent youth: now, them there are *real* mountains... and they've got *real* trees attached to 'em, with 18 foot diameter trunks, like trees are supposed to have, not these puny 18" diameter oaks that pass for trees around these parts!

BTW, Norman, I've been through your stretch of territory more than once. Can't be sure, but I think I've actually seen this in person: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/Rabbit_IMG_0312.JPG

Thanks,

Bill
 
Hey, look at that:

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2980608

Actual geographical features! ;) Somewhere off in the distance! ;) If you squint! ;)

Just teasing, Norman. Doorlink gets mad at me, because what she calls mountains in Vermont, I call bumps. ;) It comes from climbing in the sierras in my misspent youth: now, them there are *real* mountains... and they've got *real* trees attached to 'em, with 18 foot diameter trunks, like trees are supposed to have, not these puny 18" diameter oaks that pass for trees around these parts!

BTW, Norman, I've been through your stretch of territory more than once. Can't be sure, but I think I've actually seen this in person: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/Rabbit_IMG_0312.JPG

Thanks,

Bill

Yeah Bill, the pic of Ft Davis in the link was taken from the top of a low Bluff on the west side of the old Fort, which backs right up to the start of the mts, which are a lot higher than the "Hills" shown to the south east in the picture. (Wish they had a shot from the east side looking west, it's nice).

Google up Mc Donald Observatory, & see if they have some scenic views from there.

I'll admit the Mts aren't as impressive as the Rockies, or the Sierras, that I've flown and driven across in many areas incl Canada, or the Ragged Ruggedness of the Pyrenees, or the Glaciers and Peaks of the Alps OR the Mts of Peru or Chile or even Africa, (all of which I've flown over many, many times), but the WEATHER is MUCH milder in the Davis Mts though.:thumb: :rofl::rofl::rofl: By the way, we've got a whole bunch of those Rabbits scattered around different parts of town, and all are Decorated differently.

There was an English fellow wearing a Black kilt that I gave a ride to one day about a year & a half ago that had come here just to take pictures of the Rabbits he had heard about somewhere in England.:rolleyes:
 
I'll admit the Mts aren't as impressive as the Rockies, or the Sierras, that I've flown and driven across in many areas incl Canada, or the Ragged Ruggedness of the Pyrenees, or the Glaciers and Peaks of the Alps OR the Mts of Peru or Chile or even Africa, (all of which I've flown over many, many times), but the WEATHER is MUCH milder in the Davis Mts though.

Ok Norman, I am impressed with the "mountains" around Fort Davis. I did not realize Texas had anything like this (I would like to see them in person). And I am sure you know what a real mountain looks like, but for your Texan brethren that may not know, this is a mountain.

Rainier84_mount_rainier_and_tacoma_08-20-84_med_1_.jpg


Mt. Rainier from Seattle. Mt. Rainier is approx 60 miles as a crow flies from Seattle.
 
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