Wednesday 7 March 2007

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Awake: 5:57am Temp 48 sleep 5+48 sunny overnight @ Fredericksburg, Texas.

We leave Fredericksburg RV Park @ 8:20am. G & G are caravanning behind us. 25 min on US 290 & we arrive @ the visitors center for the Linden Baines Johnson State Park. There is a nice parking section for trailers & motorhomes which makes it convenient for a few hrs stopover. We watch a 25 min movie on LBJ’s life before boarding a Park bus for a tour of the one room school house where LBJ attended school @ age 4. Next, a tour of the family home & their private family cemetery; Mark, the Park Ranger tour guide & bus driver, does a superb job of relating some interesting stories about the Johnson’s & their “Great Society” lifestyle during his presidency.

During the time President LBJ did visit his ranch in Texas, the house he stayed in was literally called the “Texas White House” because he had everything he needed to run the country from his Texas ranch; communication equipment, aides, FBI agents, jet aircraft in the hangar, full length runway, etc.. Mark explained that a tour of the LBJ Texas White House was not available because Lady Bird is still very much alive.

Our tour continued; we see LBJs’ favorite Lincoln Automobiles, more of the LBJ ranch & some of his prized Hereford Cattle stock. Mark gave us an outstanding tour & the 12 or 13 of us on the bus really appreciated that.

We choose to exit the bus @ the Sauer-Beckmann Farm which is also in this State Park; this farm began in 1869….. & now it is being operated like it was back in those days. No electricity; no air conditioning; a wood burning stove for heat & cooking; chickens for eggs & meat; cow for milk; garden planted for veggies; beef cattle in the field for meat; windmill for water, etc. Two people operate this farm daily from 8:00am to 5:00pm & do all the chores just like the original owners in 1869…..except, they get to go to their comfortable homes after 5:00pm & take baths, watch TV, make phone calls, etc. We spent some time talking with the couple operating the farm & then toured the house, barn, smoke house, chicken pen, etc. All of these things did bring back some rather fond memories of my earlier childhood life. Gary identified with that lifestyle as well being born & raised on a farm in Pennsylvania.

From here, we walk back to the visitors’ center & RV parking lot, have some lunch & then continue our caravanning non-stop to Johnson City, Texas; (6) miles. I park on the wide street & Gary offers us a ride over to the LBJ National Historical Park Visitors Center, (2) blocks away. This time we watch a 30 min movie on Lady Bird Johnson & tour the displays covering the political life of LBJ + Lady Bird’s accomplishments during the time of her husband’s presidency.
Next we get a guided tour of the boyhood home of LBJ, who @ age (5), moved with his family to Johnson City, TX. It was a simple house & a humble beginning.

After all of that, we continue our caravanning; east on US 290 to hwy 71 through the city of Austin & to our campground.

Arrive @ HWY 71 RV Park @ 5:20pm in Cedar Creek, TX. Today’s travel: 94.5 miles 2+13 driving time 12.1 gal used 7.8 mpg 44.2 avg speed. The campground is big rig friendly with level parking sites. Gary & Grace are diagonally across the street.

We have our wine time, then a 7:15 dinner: ham & vegetable spaghetti, mixed salad & leftover carrot cake. We yak after dinner about what we saw & learned today during our travels & then, G & G return to their motorhome.

Late movie: “Besieged” with Thandie Newton, David Thewlis, Claudio Santamaria, etc. Provocative film about an African immigrant who works as housemaid for a reclusive English pianist in Rome; she’s intrigued by his mysterious ways, while he is infatuated with her & determines to find a way to prove his love. Sinuous & surprising. 1998. I liked this story a lot.

High temp=76 Lights out: 12:29am

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This page contains a single entry by George Monte Kirsch published on March 20, 2007 4:38 AM.

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