There's a pretty good website called traveltex.com that can give you a lot of info. If you want to see the ocean and stay relatively close to Houston, you might consider going to Galveston. It's about an hour drive from Houston. Galveston itself is pretty neat and at Christmas time, they have something called Dickens on the Strand. The Strand is part of their downtown area with lots of shops and restaurants. It's decorated nicely and a lot of people dress up in Dickensian style and walk the Strand for this celebration. I've always wanted to experience that but have never been. My sister lives in Houston and they go to Galveston all the time for fishing, shopping and just an all round nice getaway. Some good seafood to be had there, too.

I noticed that traveltex.com had a section on Driving Tours and they list one for the Galveston area. They have lots of other ideas and tips on travel that might be helpful, no matter what part of the state you decide to visit.

Sure sounds like a lot of fun, especially getting to take your furbies along for the ride.

Bobbi