To preface this, in California, I've been to the Central Valley, San Diego, Los Angeles, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and Sequoia National Parks. All of those were gorgeous areas, with Los Angeles being my least favorite because of the overhang of smog. The Central Valley was surprisingly great; the times I was there, I stayed at my ex's grandmother's olive and orange ranch near Visalia. So peaceful and pretty. As for Texas, there are some pretty areas, but I live in DFW, which is possibly to most-devoid-of-natural-beauty in our entire nation. Sometimes, I have to escape to Hot Springs or Eureka Springs to see some relatively-nearby natural beauty.
The mountains and the coast are beautiful, as well as the desert. I'm not a fan of the valley. To make the crops grow there, taxpayers shell out billions to rob water from the mountains and Nevada. Not much beauty unless you love tomatoes and cantaloups. And Bakersfield is the armpit of California. L.A. air quality is depressing. I've stood in the mountains behind Pasadena in clear blue skies and looked down at the brown mass smothering LA. You can't even see the city on a clear day. Indeed. The drag for me road tripping in the western mountains and deserts is the long day's drive getting across the great plains. Nothing to see from Texas to Canada, there is no scenic route across the Great Plains. At least the BBQ is good in Texas. Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, and the Dakotas don't even offer a cuisine to break the monotony.
I stopped for lunch at a cafe in Yukon, OK. The special was chicken fried steak so I figured what the hell, in a place like Oklahoma the chicken fried steak would have to be good.l... Wrong! It was turribal
I once spent a couple of weeks going up and down the Napa Valley (different valley, I know). Vineyards, wine, food and a hot tub made for a really decent time. Some of the best sleep I've ever gotten was at the Whale Watch Inn in Gualala, we just left the balcony door open and drifted off to the sound of waves booming on the rocks. But, yeah, I think politics would keep me from living there or many other places in Cali.
Good but not great. I'm getting to the point where I'll start doing my own BBQ, Baby Back and Country Style Ribs. As for Brisket, my buddy in BTR makes one thats better than any I've tasted in Tx. Goode BBQ is one people rave about, the one by Rice Village is Ok, but off 290, bad, real bad. Spring Creek is better. Pappas BBQ is a little better than most. But then again, just about everything Pappas is very good.
I rarely eat BBQ in a restaurant. It's one of those things that I enjoy more at a person's house (if they know what they're doing.) That being said, there's a place up here called Rudy's that is pretty good. Texas has Tex-Mex, and that's good enough for me, though.
