Lyndon B. Johnson Historical Sites

Yesterday we spent about six hours touring the two Johnson historical sites in this part of Texas. Lyndon and Lady Bird’s ranch as well as Lyndon’s boyhood home have historic sites and tours.

The ranch dubbed the Texas White House by the media of that time is the busier of the two sites. We started our touring there. The visitor center issues you a car pass and a self-guided CD audio tour for free. You drive around the ranch and learn all about the Johnsons while listening to the CD. It’s a great way to do a tour.

This is a reconstruction of the house in which Lyndon Johnson was born. He lived here for five years.

This is the Johnson family cemetery. Lady Bird and Lyndon are the two larger stones in the middle. This is probably one of the most unassuming presidential grave sites. A good trivia question would be what is Lady Bird’s real name. I never knew it was Claudia.

The Johnsons donated a large portion of the ranch to the National Park Service in 1973 with the understanding that there would be an educational component to the tours. For that reason, it is still a working ranch. In the Show Barn we saw some of the Hereford cattle that are descendants of the cattle Johnson owned. It was one of only a few ranches that branded the horns of the cattle. I’ve never seen that before.

Near the ranch house is a hanger building with exhibits including several of Johnson’s cars. A larger Air Force One was used to fly to Austin, and then this smaller plane flew them from Austin to the ranch. Johnson jokingly called it Air Force One-Half.

To tour the inside of the ranch house, you have to buy a ticket for $3 per adult. A ranger takes you through the lower level of the house and tells stories of when the Johnson’s lived here. It is decorated in the 1968 style while Lyndon was president. No indoor pictures were allowed.

The Johnsons came to the Texas White House frequently throughout his five years in office. They spent about 1/4 of that time at the ranch. Johnson would even have cabinet members and other officials flown down for meetings, holding them under the Live Oak tree on the left. He loved entertaining heads of state and other important people at the ranch. I’m thinking that cost the taxpayers a great deal of money.

This certainly is a beautiful and serene place along the Pedernales River. I can see how it recharged his batteries. This is the view from the front of the ranch house.

After the ranch tour, we drove about 14 miles east to Johnson City. When Lyndon was five years old, the family moved to this home where he lived until he was 15 years old. At that time he took off and went to California for a few years. Eventually, he came back to Texas and went to college where he earned a teaching degree. There is a free ranger guided tour of this house.

Our next stop was the visitor center in Johnson City. There are two movies available to view, one about Lyndon and one about Lady Bird. We watched the Lyndon movie and learned a lot about his presidency.

I was in first grade when Kennedy was shot. My only memory of Johnson as a president was the image of him being sworn into office with Jackie Kennedy at his side in her bloody pink suit. I really did not know very much about the man or his politics.

We learned that he was responsible for a revolutionary change in government funded public programs. He was interested in improving education, poverty, civil rights and the environment. I think his heart was in the right place, but unfortunately, many of the programs he initiated have become huge drains on public funds. I don’t know that what has happened was what he intended.

The ranger told us that normally the bluebonnets would be out in full force at this time. Due to the drought, there are very few to be seen. We did see a few patches of them along the highway. There was a flowerbed outside of the visitor center that was full of them. Too bad we’re not getting the full affect. They sure are pretty.

A short walk from the visitor center is the Johnson Settlement. This area has restored buildings from the mid 1800s when Lyndon’s grandfather first came to Texas as a cattle driver.  This was the home he built.

There were a few longhorn cattle in the pasture.

We enjoyed our visit to the Johnson historical sites. We learned a lot about that period in the history of our country and would highly recommend a visit.

Today we stayed home. We did take a walk around Blanco State Park where we will be until Friday. The park is on the Blanco River where there is a swimming area. We saw some people swimming at the top of the wall yesterday. The area on the right looks like a swimming pool.

Here’s our site, #6 FHU 50 amp. The park has free wi-fi, but its quite slow and sketchy. The sites are large, but not all that deep for big rigs. There are also some trees to be careful around. There is a nice covered picnic table and a fire pit.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Another Volksmarch

We had such a good time meeting Susan and Bob last Sunday that we planned another Volksmarch hike with them for yesterday. This time they came to our home for brunch. It sure was nice of them to drive over an hour from San Antonio to visit.

After we ate, we headed to the starting point of the hike. The hike was entitled “Bridges” so we were expecting a path along the river in Kerrville. Instead we started at a park and then walked through some residential areas. A lot of the route was in the open with a hot sun beating down on us. Highs yesterday were near 90 degrees.

We did finally make it to a large bridge across one of the main roads. We spent a little time looking over the side. The river was pretty and looked cool.

There were lots of turtles swimming in the water. I was about ready to join them.

There were quite a few tree stumps right under the surface. This one was especially large. I’m thinking the boaters need to be very careful not to damage their motors.

By the time we finished the 10K (6.2) hike, we were ready for some refreshments and dinner. We went to Mamacita’s Mexican Restaurant. Dinner was very good. After dinner we headed back to our home for dessert. Susan and Bob had brought a cheesecake sampler, so we each enjoyed a delicious piece of cake.

Susan and Bob headed home, and we did some chores to prepare for our departure today. We look forward to meeting up with Susan and Bob again some day!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Bandera, Texas

We stayed home on Thursday and Friday. There really wasn’t anywhere we wanted to go. I had read online that Bandera claims to be the Cowboy Capital of the World, and that they have a Farmer’s Market and an event called Cowboys on Main on Saturdays.

As we entered town, we were behind this truck. I’ve never seen a suicide sign on a truck before. I’m taking it he doesn’t want anyone passing him on the right!

The Farmer’s Market was listed on their website for today from 8 to 11 a.m. They also have the Cowboys on Main event every Saturday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. The plan was to arrive around 10 to check out the Farmer’s Market and then hang around for the cowboys.

We went to the market spot and there was nothing there! What the heck. We saw signs for an event called Wild Hog Explosion being held at a park outside of town so we drove over to that. There were some craft and food booths set up and they were going to have a cook-off and competitions for catching live hogs. It was a fundraising event for the Bandera library and had an admission of $7 per person. We weren’t that interested, so we left.

We wasted some time exploring the two blocks of shops on Main Street. I’m collecting fabric from the states we visit for an eventual quilt. They had a very nice quilt shop, and I found a piece of fabric representing Texas. Since today is National Quilting Day, the purchase was absolutely necessary!

One of the shops was selling this grill. That would certainly be a novelty item for the patio.

We had lunch on the patio of the chikin coop bar and restaurant. A cold beverage and a plate of King Ranch Chicken Quesadillas hit the spot.

Finally it was time for the Cowboys on Main event to begin. There was a gunslinger event at a small park. A group of older guys and one young lady did a few skits with lots of shooting. I’m sure the kids in the audience enjoyed it. We thought it was pretty hokey. I did learn that Bandera was a stop for cowboys that were taking cattle from Texas to Dodge City, Kansas to sell them.

In this skit the dentist was going to remove a rotten tooth using dynamite.

The only other evidence we saw of any cowboys was this wagon offering rides and one other chuck wagon parked in front of the County Courthouse. Certainly not what I was expecting from the Cowboy Capital of the World.

What we did see a lot of was motorcycles. There was a ride this weekend and there were plenty of motorcycles all over the place.

I read a sign that explained some history of Bandera. It was established in the mid 1850s as a mill town due to its proximity to the Medina River. Several mills were established for sawing wood and making shingles.

We drove home along Hwy. 16. It’s quite scenic between Kerrville and Bandera with some hairpin turns and steep inclines. Lots of hills, ranches and rivers along the route. That water in the creeks is crystal clear. Because of the two year draught, everything is very brown and dry. I’m sure it would be prettier if they had more rain. Still no wildflowers anywhere :(

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Fredericksburg and Luckenbach

The plan for yesterday was to start out hiking at Enchanted Rock State Park, then check out Fredericksburg, and if there was time stop in Luckenbach at the end of the day.

It was about a 45 minute drive to Enchanted Rock. I had seen a show on TV where they polled Texans as to the best hiking in the state. Enchanted Rock was number one. About 15 miles before the park, I happened to see a roadside sign that said if it was flashing the park was closed. It wasn’t flashing, and I thought closings would be weather related.

This is the closest we got. A picture through the truck window.

About 3 miles from the entrance, traffic came to a standstill. We waited for about 20 minutes and saw many cars turn around. Most cars had children in them. I had forgotten that it is spring break for all Texas public schools this week. We decided to turn around and check out Fredericksburg first and come back to the park in the afternoon. As we passed the road sign heading back, it was blinking. I guess this park is very popular!

Fredericksburg is a quaint town that was established by German settlers in the mid 1800s. We stopped at the Pioneer Museum for information. The museum had re-enactors giving demonstrations throughout the grounds. Many families were enjoying the event. We visited many of these types of museums when our children were young, and we didn’t want to deal with the crowds, so we moved on.

We walked to the Market Square area and visited the Vereins Kirche (Society Church) Museum. This building is a replica of the first church built in the town.

Inside there was a map of Germany showing where the German settlers came from. My birth town near Hanover, Germany was included on the map. Maybe I have descendants that lived here.

There was also a Maibaum (Maypole) in the square. My mom always got excited on May 1st because it was May Day, a day for celebration in Germany. This one was kind of like a totem pole with the history of the town depicted on it.

 

 

 

 

We walked up and down several blocks of Main Street. One of the shops we enjoyed visiting was Rustlin’ Rob’s Texas Trail Supplies. They had all kinds of samples of jams, butters, salsas, sauces and dips to taste with crackers or pretzels. We tried all kinds of the samples, free lunch :)  

There was a room dedicated to the hottest sauces. An employee was on hand to supervise. No children were allowed to sample those sauces. No thanks!! We are lightweights when it comes to spicy sauces.

I enjoyed window shopping all along our stroll. Many of the items for sale were German and reminded me of things my mom has, or I saw on my trips to Germany.

We saw several of these Texas style signs. Hmm.

By this time we were thirsty so a stop at the Fredericksburg Brewery was in order. I am not a beer drinker, but Kevin enjoys samples from local microbreweries. He had a sample of each of their brews and declared they were all good. Can you tell he didn’t want to cooperate in having his picture taken?

I enjoyed our stroll through Fredericksburg. On our travels, I’ve noticed that so many of the small tourist towns are mostly shopping and restaurants. Neither one of those things interests us that much anymore, but we did enjoy our stop in Fredericksburg.

Around 2 p.m. I tried calling Enchanted Rock to see if they had re-opened. I tried about 15 times and just kept getting a busy signal. We’re going to be staying in Blanco next week. Upon checking with the GPS, we found out that its not much further to come back from Blanco, so we’ll be back next week when the kiddies are back in school.

Our next stop was Luckenbach, made famous by a Waylon Jennings’ song.

It’s not a town anymore, pretty much just a tourist attraction. There is a small general store and a cowboy hat shop. I always thought cowboy hats were made of a felt material. Most of the ones I’ve seen are actually straw. The felt ones are very expensive, around $150 and up. The straw ones are from $20 to $60.

There is also a bar, a walk-up food stand, a barn dance hall, and an outdoor stage area.

Two musicians were playing outside under some trees. They were Bo Porter and Jimmie Lee Jones. The little guy in front was dancing and enjoying himself.

We are not country music fans and have never heard of either one of the performers today. It was fun to sit and listen for a while. Their song topics included being in bed with a woman and dreaming about a different woman, stinky feet, and passing gas. Yup, country music :)

We all have our stereotypes of places we’ve never been to. When I thought of Texas, what came to mind was longhorn steer, cowboys and oil wells. We’ve seen very little of any of these. There was the opportunity to have your picture taken with a longhorn at Luckenbach for a price.

One of the main reasons I wanted to stay in the Hill Country was because I had read about all of the beautiful wildflowers that bloom in March and April. So far, no flowers. I overheard a lady at the museum yesterday saying that due to the drought in Texas, the flowers are about two weeks behind in blooming. Hopefully, we’ll see some before we leave in early April.

The weather this week has been fantastic with highs in the mid 70s and sunny. Can’t ask for more than that!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

An Interesting Sculpture Garden

Yesterday we went to the Riverside Nature Center in Kerrville. The center itself wasn’t much to get excited about, but there was a very nice walking/biking trail along the Guadalupe River.

It’s a nice wide cement trail that runs .7 miles from the nature center to another park and the Kerrville library. We made the 1.5 mile round trip walk. The Texas Redbud trees are blooming. The splashes of pink in the woods is so pretty. The leaves on trees and bushes are just starting to bud so there is that beautiful light green color that reminds me of spring.

 

Monday as we came into Kerrville, I saw a huge cross up on a hill. Yesterday we went to the Coming King Sculpture Prayer Garden to take a look. From what I could figure out based on plaques and literature at the site, the 23 acre spot on this hill in Kerrville is owned by The Coming King Foundation. They appear to be some type of born again Christian group. The story of how this all came about is quite interesting, including alleged visions, signs and miracles.

Artist Max Greiner, Jr. donated the first sculpture, a 77’ 7” cross which was erected on this site in 2010. Notice the people at the bottom to get a feel of just how big the cross is.

A few other sculptures by various artists have been added. The site is not finished, but they have plans for many more statues. All of this has been funded by private donations. The cross alone is worth over two million dollars.

Jesus washing the feet of Peter.

A prayer garden has sprung up with people writing prayers on rocks and leaving them up here.

Although the site is not complete, it was certainly an interesting place to visit.

I want to thank everyone who left a comment regarding our roof situation. We are aware of the Eternabond product. The pictures I posted are just a small section of the damage. The entire tear is 11 feet long which is about 1/3 of the roof.

We are waiting to get the insurance information from the park owner. I’ve spoken to him on the phone twice. He’s on vacation this week and will get us the insurance company contact information when he gets back. The camp host told us we are the third RV to have roof damage from that tree. One couple had an air conditioner torn off.

It’s a long story, but we feel the owner is negligent. When we got here, there was no one to help us check in even though we had a reservation. We should have been warned not to go down that side of the main road. We saw the tree and by eyeballing it, it seemed okay. There are some other large rigs at the back of the park, so we figured if they were down there it must be okay.

As Merikay said, this is our home, and we’re concerned that the resale value would be greatly diminished if we just patch the damage. We’re not sure how we’ll proceed. It will depend on what we find out once we contact the owner’s insurance company. When I made our reservation, I spoke to the owner directly and told him the size of our unit. Campgrounds need to be honest with people about their properties.

I slept ten hours last night after the rough night before. We love this lifestyle, and this will not deter us. Just one of those things. As our nephew said, those life wrenches are a pain in the rear!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Attacked By A Tree

Yesterday was not a good day!!

It was travel day. Since we’ve had a few tire episodes on travel days over the past few years, I’ve come to dread these days. I get really nervous, and usually read while Kevin drives to keep me distracted.

Yesterday was one of the shortest travel days we’ve had, moving from San Antonio to Kerrville, only about 70 miles. I had made reservations at Hill Country RV Park in Kerrville. It’s Spring Break week for all of the Texas schools, so I felt a reservation was a good idea for this week.

I rely heavily on the website RV Park Reviews when researching places to stay. This place had two reviews with an 8 and a 9 out of 10. What were these people smoking?? I also check the campgrounds website for more information. This place had a nice website with good pictures. They also state the following on their website:

AGE AND CONDITION OF RIG:
We prefer to have camping rigs that are less than 15 years old within the park. This is to keep up a nice modern park environment for all users. Special arrangements can be made with the management on a case by case basis if your rig is older. If your rig is becoming run down or is in need of repair, we reserve the right to ask you to perform the repairs or ask you to remove the rig from the park at our sole discretion.

When we arrived, we were quite disappointed. I would say 90% of the trailers in this park are over 15 years old. Most of them look to be permanent residents. The place looks pretty run down. There was no one here to check us in even though we had a reservation. One of the permanent residents was nice enough to come out and talk to us. He called the camp host who told us to take any open site.

There were only two open sites, both of them back ins. We decided to stay since it was only for a week. There are large rocks at the side of the road at each site, and there is a loop road to get to all of the sites. Kevin felt it would be best to go around the loop and come at the site from the opposite side to be able to back in without hitting the rocks.

There is a very large tree on one side of the road. Branches had been cut out of it so it looked like it would be okay to drive under it. There were some large units at the back of the park, so we figured if they got in, we’d be fine too.

As we went under the tree, I felt a bump like we had run over something in the road. Kevin was mumbling something under his breath, so I wasn’t sure what had happened. When we stopped at the site, he went up on the roof and did not find good news.

There was one dead branch of the tree that had cut a slice into our rubber roof about 11 feet long. There are three larger tears and then a long line of smaller holes. Our bathroom skylight also had a hole poked into it. Needless to say, we were not happy!!!

We got set up and a few hours later the camp host came by to collect the rent. We explained what happened, and he suggested we call the owner. I called him and explained what happened. He said he would contact the camp host and get back to us.

The camp host came by a little later and told us we would not be charged for the site for the week and he will be bringing me the insurance information for the campground so we can file a claim with them. He also told me that we’re the third unit to have damage from that tree. One unit actually had the air conditioner torn off the roof. He also told me the owner told him to get someone out here to cut back more of the tree. I sure wish they would have taken care of that sooner!!

So now we have to have the tire damage from October and the roof damage repaired when we get back to Wisconsin. I called the RV dealer and made an appointment for them to look at it on April 15th. Based on my description, they think the entire roof needs to be replaced. That’s at least a week in the shop. We’ll get an estimate for the insurance company and take it from there. In the meantime, Kevin taped the cuts on the roof with duct tape. We’ll see how that holds up.

I had a rough night sleeping because of all of this. I only got about four hours of sleep and then my mind wouldn’t let me rest anymore. How are we going to get this all taken care of? Where are we going to stay? How long will it take? I hate fighting with insurance companies!  etc., etc., etc. I sure hope I can sleep better tonight.

Better days ahead!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Meeting Blog Friends and a Hike

We had the opportunity yesterday to meet some blogger friends. Susan of the blog Travel Bug and I have been reading each others blogs for some time. She and her husband Bob are staying at Traveler’s World RV Park in San Antonio and were kind enough to invite us over for brunch yesterday.

It was a beautiful day, so after a delicious brunch they invited us to go for a hike at Friedrich Wilderness Park north of San Antonio. Susan belongs to an international organization called Volksmarch. You find hiking/walking events on their website and get credit for each hike you do.

Yesterday’s hike was at a beautiful location wandering through a wooded park. I think most of the trees were cedar. Much of the 10k (6.2 mile) route was pretty even, but there were a couple of sections where we did some stair climbing. An excellent workout on a very nice day. We asked a fellow hiker to take a picture for us.

It took us just over 2.5 hours to complete the hike. During that time we got to know each other better. It seems we have a lot in common, and we look forward to meeting up with Bob and Susan again in the future.

As we neared the end of the path, we saw this beautiful butterfly. Susan identified it as a Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on a Mountain Laurel bush.

So, thanks to Susan and Bob for a great day!!

Today we leave San Antonio and head to Kerrville for a week. I’m looking forward to exploring the Texas Hill Country over the next few weeks.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!