I temporarily lived in Texas in my 20s as well and really liked it. I lived in Denton, which is a college town, but I wasn't in college. Someone I was dating at the time owned a house down there, but had been living where I was in Wisconsin. When my band broke up and I was also out of work, we decided to move down there and live in her house.

I liked the town because it felt like a small town, but it had a music venue that decent bands would play at, some good restaurants, etc. I only ended up living there for about a year and a half before moving back, but I still remember the experience pretty fondly. Everyone I met there was really nice in a way that midwestern people aren't.

I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Texas actually seceded from the union at some point, speaking of the pride people who live there have in it. It's definitely big enough to be a country!