From what you have described, most anywhere near Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Tyler, Marshall, Livingston, Huntsville, Bryan, Fairfield, etc. may work fine for you. You are already familiar with Palestine and seem to like it around there. Note that Texas is a big place with very diverse terrain and demographics. There is a huge difference in say Jefferson, Uvalde, Marfa, Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Del Rio, Paris, Seminole, Beaumont, Victoria, Borger, Galveston, and McAllen. So much so an outsider would have a difficult time believing these were cities within the same state. It is 880 miles across I-10 from the Louisiana line to the New Mexico line and about the same north to south. It's a dang big and diverse place. Lush pastures and forests in the east and desert mountains in the west. Open plains in the panhandle and coastal plains and gulf beaches in the south and all sorts of mixes in parts between. All with the same road signs. My best advice to you, other than avoiding Austin proper, is for you and your wife to take a few days, or maybe a couple of weeks, and take a driving tour or the state. If you really like the area that you are already familiar with, start there. If you really like that terrain and demographics, you can probably eliminate most anything west of I-35. Not to imply that areas west of I-35 do not have value, quite the contrary, but just judging by what you say you like so far. That still leaves you with a tremendous size search area opportunity.
