14 TEXAS HILL COUNTRY - PINEY WOODS - GULF COAST

This Gallery is:   Gunshot fire in Gonzales, a small town in the heart of texas, proclaimed the Texas Revolution had begun. The Texas War of Independence riled against the rule of Mexico; Texas had had two stars on their flag...(one for its sister city in Mexico) but on March 2, 1836, Texas became the Lone Star State...Santa Anna had been defeated.  The last battle, fought at San Jacinto, east of Houston, is commemorated with a monolith taller than the "Washington Monument"!  But Independence did not last.  By 1845, Texas had been annexed by the United States.
         Texas has an immense variety of Geographic features.  There's the Topography of  The Texas Panhandle,  Big Bend, The Hill Country, The Gulf Coast, The Piney Woods, Prairies & Lakes and The South Texas Plains.  Cattle, grain, oil, and abundant cactus are found in Texas.
         The Rio Grande river is the border with Mexico; the Amistad Reservoir (dam in Del Rio captures the Rio Grande) delivers water to both sides of the border.  It's a National Recreation area allowing fishing, scuba diving and boating. Incredible Yucca  (New Mexico State Flower) thrive in this area.  They are also called "Lamps of the Lord" for their mass of white flowers.
         The heartland of Texas, The Hill Country, is home to two of the major population centers in Texas....San Antonio and Austin.   North of Austin, under the auspices of the University of Texas at Austin, is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Sanctuary. It's a unique public botanical garden devoted EXCLUSIVELY to native plants.  West of Austin,  the Sabinal River meanders through the tiny town Utopia, TX...named for its fantastic climate.
           The Piney Woods in East Texas has long been the site of logging 4 species of pine; the Logging Museum in Lufkin has a Log loader... technology still found in use today.  This area  is also home to  Nacogdoches University...the only non-sectarian University stemming from the days (1845) when Texas was it's own country!  The warm, wet climate nurtures the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Gardens adjacent to the campus.
          It's an unusual sight to see large, complex homes on stilts to protect against the occasional tropical cyclone which can raise the water nearly 20 feet.  Even the Lighthouse stands on long legs.   But the  Javelinas, surfers, and even Live Oaks take the winds of the Atlantic in stride finding 86 degree water irresistible!