You need to take care selecting which focus point you use, got a feeling that the K-x doesn’t show the active focus point in the viewfinder (very strange because my older K200D did)
The lens hood is worth using, avoids flare and also protects the lens, I don’t use a filter either except from a polariser occasionally
For scenic shots as mentioned above, go for something like f/16 and focus about a third of the way in to get everything with detail
Definitely learn the basics of exposure, also don’t judge your pics on the camera LCD as they will look a lot different when viewed on a monitor.
Don’t forget to back up your pics, memory is dirt cheap and nothing worse than losing a great shot through carelessness
Finally just enjoy, unless you are very good or lucky your first efforts will probably be not that clever, all comes good pretty quick though.
One other thing, buy a decent strap something like an Optech for about fifteen quid, makes for a much more comfortable time than the supplied one.