Things I know about Washington: It rains, rains, rains!  They have great seafood and they throw it at Pike’s Place Market.  And everyone there is Grunge.

It’s short to drive to Texas from Minnesota then to Washington, but the drive to Washington is way better.

BTW-That’s not really what I know about each state.  I’ve been to more numerous times.  And each one is great, but I wouldn’t want to live in either.  Because I LOVE MINNESOTA!

from wikipedia:

One of the primary motivations for annexation was that the Texas government had incurred huge debts which the United States agreed to assume upon annexation. In 1852, in return for this assumption of debt, a large portion of Texas-claimed territory, now parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Wyoming, was ceded to the Federal government.

Wikipedia page on the Republic of Texas

MB: I looked at the map linked to above, and maybe I’m starting to understand why I find so much animosity and resentment for Texans in New Mexico.  It had rather surprised me when I first moved here.  The Spanish founded a town in New Mexico over 20 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.  That was over 50 years after the Spanish first arrived and explored the area.  New Mexico has it’s own proud heritage and it ain’t Texan.  To call everything east of the Rio Grande part of Texas is arrogance, pure and simple.  It’s 1000 times worse than the British saying that they allowed the colonies to secede.  The British actually controlled the colonies for a while.  Texas never once controlled all the territory claimed by that map.  In fact, there were some Texans who were so bold as to try and act on that claim.  The president of Texas sent an expedition to assert that claim in 1841.  Those people were captured and sent to Mexico City until US (not Texan) diplomatic efforts ensured their release. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Santa_Fe_Expedition

Everything east of the Rio Grande was part of Texas and was “allowed” by Texas to secede?  You’re just joking, right?

MB

Texas, I was taught in college, can not only secede from the Union but in doing so it would still have the fifth largest GNP in the world.

Texas is the only state with a pledge to it’s flag.  School kids (like me) sometimes start their day with this pledge and/or singing the state song.

Texas is also the only state with a flag retirement ceremony laid out in its laws.  While there are general rules for retiring the U.S. flag, Texas set out a detailed script for the “somber ceremony” which ends with the saying of the flag’s pledge.

It’s a whole ‘nother country.

Details here.

I had a friend from California that was so confused at the ‘Texas Pride’ when he first moved to Austin.  He decided to do a verbal survey of those native Texans to see how they rated this pride.  He asked each person to rank their Texas Pride from 1-10.  1 being ‘you don’t care’ and 10 being ‘you would die for the state’.  He was stunned when he found the average response to be an 8.

There are a number of things that go into the whole Texas pride thing.

1.  Texas was once an independent country.  A country that opted to join the U.S.

2.  The state of Texas is big even after allowing portions of the Republic to become eastern colorado and portions of New Mexico and Oklahoma.

(here’s a map:

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/texas/map-republic-texas.htm)

3. As with many Western States, there is a rugged individualism that comes with being a Texan.

4. Texas has 5 clearly defined geographical areas so you can go from a coastal ecosystem, to blackland prairies, to hill country, to mountains, to desert and never leave the state.

5.  The state of Texas could sustain itself without the other 49.  it would be inconvenient, but it could happen, and the children are taught this from an early age.

Other Texans can add to the list, but I think that starts to paint the picture.

Having said all that, I still think it is the prettiest place on the planet. 

MB

Tennessee has been very good to me.

But were I to relocate, I must admit there are places in Texas on the short list. And that says a lot for a Redskins girl. Not that I’d ever tell that to Shaun.  Ever.