I have just put Dallas to Houston into mapquest and it comes in at less miles than Dallas-San Antonio did

I wouldn't have guessed that, but now that I think about it does make sense. For some reason I always think of SA as North of Houston, though clearly it isn't. Why my brain doesn't seem to get it is beyond me.

although I sometimes find it harder making the effort to meet people who are not prepared to meet me half way

Which I'd guess is the reason the Dallas meet last year didn't end up happening (or if I did, I didn't hear about it).