Woke up to anther drizzly, cold day.
The kind of day where the cold just sort of seeps into your bones.
It was also the type of day that makes your hair curl cause of all of
the moisture in the air. You know – one of those days when you are
glad you have curly hair.
Took the dog to the little dog run,
but she just didn't have her normal joie de vivre that she normally
does. I think she misses the sun also. I then put her in the RV,
put some classical music on the radio to keep her company and headed
over to the LBJ Ranch.
The LBJ Ranch is part of a National
Historical Site and a State Park. You have to first go to the State
Park to get a permit to drive around the ranch. They have a 25
minute movie which was interesting because it was a film shot in the
sixties and it was LBJ giving a tour of his ranch and explaining what
it meant to him. His love and pride of the land really came
through. The state park also has a few exhibits telling about the
history of the land and the people who have lived on it.
The tour goes past the house LBJ was
born in, then past his grandfather's house and on through the cow
pastures. LBJ raised prize Hereford cows and the descendants of the
herd are still on the land. Right next to the cow pasture/airport –
runway was somebody else's property which looked like something Out
of Africa. There were several herds of exotic deer/antelope plus a
couple of ostriches (perhaps emus?)
I suppose if you have the land, it
would be fun to populate it with animals other than your normal
livestock.
After driving through the property you
get to the Texas White House as they called it back in the day. The
Johnsons did a lot of entertaining – evidently if you got invited
to the house, it was because LBJ wanted something from you. There
was a big building that they called the hanger wher they would host
big indoor parties. They were redoing all the electricity so the
place was pretty dark. They had lanterns hanging in the restrooms so
you could see what you needed to see. In the hanger there were a ot
of exhibits and even though it was dark you could see enough to enjoy
them. One exhibit I really liked was a series of six old fashioned
dial phones (like I have at home) where you could listen to recorded
conversations of Johnson. Everything from Vietnam body count updates
to talking to his brother-in-law about getting together.
When it was time to tour the actual
house (Lady Bird donated the house after her death to the NPS), we
had a really good guide named Jennifer. She told us many little
stories about the Johnsons and their life at the house. LBJ was a
news fanatic and many of the rooms had three televisions in them so
he could watch all three networks simultaneously. There was only one
TV in the house among the multitude of TVs that Lady Bird had sole
control of. She evidently was a big Gunsmoke fan. The house was
very sixties sort of reminded me of Graceland except it was much more
tasteful. It was a very interesting visit – it is a nice companion
to the LBJ presidential library. It was nice to get a more personal
view of the family.
Back to the RV, packed up and headed
off to Boerne (pronounced Bernie). Boerne is located about a half
hour north of San Antonio. Again I had the two GPS programmed to
take me to Boerne. Both of them agreed that I should take a left on
to Lubbock road. I looked at the road and it was about twenty feet
of asphalt and then nothing but a gravel road. I decided to be
prudent and not take that road. That said, I continue on, see a sign
that says Boerne with an arrow and turn on that road, even though
both GPS units want me to go straight.
Oh my – what a road this turns out
to be. For thirty six miles I'm traveling a narrow, two lane road
that is up and down, curvy. Speed limit is 65 which tells you how
bad it was (see the earlier post about Texas speed limits). I feel
comfortable doing fifty and there were a few curves where I thought
that might be a little fast. Thankfully there were not many cars on
the road, either behind me or coming at me. I just put my flashers
on and cruised along at my own pace. For the whole way, the lanes
were marked no passing, so I felt bad for the cars behind me, but
there was actually no where to turn out to let them pass. The
scenery was incredible – big huge hills and valleys. I guess I am
really in hill country.
I get to Boerne and check into the
Alamo Fiesta RV Park. Another RV park (yuk) but I have full hookups.
I paid for a week. There is a lot to see and do in the area.
I drove over to the local Walmart to
pick up a space heater. Thought it would be a good idea to add
another one into the coach so on the cold nights I don't have to use
my propane. I'm telling you – it has been cold down here. Here is
the space heater section of the store:
Maintenance – now my steps into the
RV are not coming out. It is a long step down to the ground. I
guess it is good exercise, climbing up into the RV. I looked online
for solutions to my problem and the number one solution seems to be
taking a hammer to the motor. Maybe I will try that tomorrow.
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