Texas is the greatest state in the Union. No doubt about it…at least to us.

And our reasoning may not reflect the typical Texan’s logic. We’re not ‘by-Gawd’ come-and-take-it defenders of the Republic. We’re also not blind to some of the shortcomings in certain social and political thinking in this state. But, it is still the greatest state to us.

Our reasoning centers on the fact that there is no other state in the Union that you can do so many different things and see such a variety in geography as you can in Texas. Because of that, we love getting out and roaming it every chance we get.

So we’ve decided to start recording some of those treks here…for various reasons. First, we’re setting a monument to our travels. We want to be able to look back someday and reflect on the good times when reflections are all that we have. Second, we’re hoping to inspire others to hit the road from Port Arthur to Port Isabel, from Dalhart to Danbury and from Texarkana to Terlingua.

As a family of six, we’re not blessed with unlimited bank accounts, so our getaways are budgeted, preplanned and creative. We like to find free stuff to do. We like to learn about the history of the peoples and places in the state. Most of all, we like having fun.

So our hope here is that we’ll encourage other families in similar situations to get out and check out the miles and the smiles of Texas. Let’s get going!

PS — we acknowledge the blatant ripoff of the greatest Asleep at the Wheel tune, Miles and Miles of Texas. AND…we also insist that you have this song at the top of your road trip playlist, so that the moment you ramp onto the interstate, Ray Benson and the gang start your trip off right!