Book excerpt: Many Texas travel guides are all hat and no cattle, put together by temporary or transplanted Texans who aren’t well familiar with the state in its entirety, much less the experiences and marvels that express bona fide Lone Star spirit. Award-winning author E. R. Bills’s 100 Things to Do in Texas Before You Die is a definitive, quick-reference travel guide put together by a native-born, lifelong Texan who has traveled the state all his life and spent the last several years writing about its distinct treasures, attractions and history. From the Big Bend to the Big Thicket, the Panhandle to the Padre Island National Seashore and all points in between, join Bills in this Lone Star bucket list that emphasizes authentic Texas in in all of its amazing diversity, stark beauty and unparalleled presence in the lower forty-eight.