The Big Bend: How Big Is It, Really?

[randell]

I did a comparison to Texas a long time ago using MAPfrappe.com, it is an interesting tool to play with.

[jeffblaylock]

When I lived in the District of Calamity, I used to describe how big Texas was to my East Coast (snob) friends this way:

El Paso and Texarkana are cities on either end of Texas.  El Paso is in the west (in the Mountain time zone) and Texarkana in the east (in the Central time zone). El Paso is closer to Los Angeles than it is to Texarkana. Texarkana is closer to Chicago than it is to El Paso.

There was no Google Maps in those days -- hell, the Intarweb was still in AT&T Labs -- so they had to take my word for it, astounded as they were. Today, via the magic of the web, we see that driving from El Paso to LA is 802 miles; El Paso to Texarkana is 813 miles; and Texarkana to Chicago is 795 miles.

Of course, those towns don't hit the longest axis of Texas. That would be Texline to South Padre Island at 914 miles. To put that in perspective, Texline is closer to Billings, MT (864 miles) than to South Padre Island. And it is just 1 mile farther to Bismark, ND, than to South Padre Island.

[badknees]

If you creased Texas along the Sabine River and folded it over to the East, El Paso would be in the Atlantic Ocean. (Not to mention upsided down )

[presidio]

If you creased Texas along the Sabine River and folded it over to the East, El Paso would be in the Atlantic Ocean. (Not to mention upsided down )

And, if you flopped the state over using Brownsville as the anchor, Amarillo would be in the Pacific, SW of Mexico City.

And, if you spin Texas really fast around the center of the state, everybody would get dizzy and fall down, with a few being tossed off to land in places like Louisiana and Oklahoma (in fact the creation myths of both those states recall such events in the time before history, when 'Texan' meant 'flung from over there' before the term was redefined and tweaked to its rumored current meaning).

[badknees]

If you creased Texas along the Sabine River and folded it over to the East, El Paso would be in the Atlantic Ocean. (Not to mention upsided down )

And, if you flopped the state over using Brownsville as the anchor, Amarillo would be in the Pacific, SW of Mexico City.

And, if you spin Texas really fast around the center of the state, everybody would get dizzy and fall down, with a few being tossed off to land in places like Louisiana and Oklahoma (in fact the creation myths of both those states recall such events in the time before history, when 'Texan' meant 'flung from over there' before the term was redefined and tweaked to its rumored current meaning).