Part 28 WInter Trip - Homeward Bound

Well our wonderful winter trip has come to an end.  It it time to head back home so that we can pick up the granddaughters and take them on a spring break trip.

After being on the road for 2 1/2 months, we have proven that we are more than content to live in our motorhome.  Now we are seriously thinking about selling our house and going full time in the motorhome.

Decisions... decisions...decisions to be made.  


On the way home we spent the night at Mockingbird Hill RV Park in Burleson, TX on I-35 south of Fort Worth.  This was an older park but was well kept up with large lots that was perfect for an overnight stop.

Part 27 Winter Trip - Last Trek through Ranch

Our last outing was a quick revisit to  a ranch that is being developed into acreages that are for sale that is located between Blanco and Miller Creek RV Park.  So far about a dozen homes have been built.

The nice thing is that the gates are open and one can drive through this incredible ranch land.  The hills and vistas are absolutely breathtaking.  Wandering around is lots of wild game.  Must admit to being envious of the folks who had a herd of elk in their front yard!

Part 26 Winter Trip - All Things Lyndon B. Johnson

The remainder of Ed's visit is affectionately called the Lyndon B. Johnson tour.  We started off at the Visitor's Center for the Lyndon B. Johnson National  Historical Park that is located in downtown Johnson City.  The Visitor's Center and Museum is located across the street from his boyhood home.  This small museum is quite interesting and gives you a quick time-line history lesson on the life of President Johnson.

We then drove 14 miles west of Johnson City, toward Stonewall, Texas, to the LBJ Ranch, often called the Texas White House.  President Johnson bought the house and ranch property in 1951 from his aunt and uncle.

The ranch property runs along the beautiful Pedernales River.  During  the time that this was the Texas White House, all visitors had to go across a low water bridge on the river to get onto the ranch.

The family cemetery where President Johnson and Lady Bird are buried is located on the ranch property.

President Johnson reconstructed the house where he was born.  This is one of many homes located on the ranch that were used as guest houses.

Sam, Sr. and Eliza, the President's grandparents, lived out their lives in this modest farmhouse.

The Texas White House

President Johnson was the first president to set up a functioning White House away from Washington, D.C.  He spent almost a third of his time as president here at this house. 

More often than not, President Johnson held lawn chair meetings with staff or visiting dignitaries under the live oak tree in the front yard.  He always felt he had an advantage when he was on "home turf" when conducting official business at the Texas White House.

Love this photo I found!

We took a tour of the house.  So far the President's office, living room and dining room have been restored.  We also went through the kitchen but restoration has yet to be started there.  No pictures were allowed inside the house.

Back outside we stopped to look at the display of cars that President Johnson used. 

The most fun was his little blue car that could be driven into the water as a boat.  He was a practical joker and scared many a person with this maneuver!

After the President's death in 1973, Lady Bird continued to live at the ranch part-time until her death in 2007. 

The last part of the Johnson tour took place at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas.  Bill, Ed and I made the trek to visit this impressive library and museum.  From the information that I learned about President Johnson, I feel I have a much better understanding of who the man was and rationale of why he made some of the decisions that he did.  All in all, a great learning experience.

Part 25 Winter Trip - National Museum of the Pacific War

Bill's brother, Ed, came to visit for a few days.  One of our day trips was to Fredericksburg to visit the newly opened George H. W. Bush Gallery of the National Museum of the Pacific War.  

I am by no means a WWII history buff (Bill, Ed and Don definitely are) but I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the museum.  The museum did an incredible job of not only telling the story of WWII in the Pacific theater, but also kept a time line going of events happening in each time period.

I highly recommend this museum if you are in the Texas Hill Country area. 

Part 24 Winter Trip - Canyon Lake

On our way down to Port A, Bill and I stayed at Potter's Creek Park at Canyon Lake for two nights. This is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers park  (COE) and with the Senior Pass, you save 50% on the nightly camping fee so we paid $9.00 a night!  Anytime we are near a COE park, we try to stay at them as the price is right. 

While we were there the water was very low as the area has been in drought conditions for about three years.  However, after we left the rains finally arrived and boy, did it rain!  So we were curious as to how much the lake has risen.  A trip was soon in the making.

What a change!  Now there was water in the coves by the campground.

We were curious if the deer would be around again. Sure enough we found a lot of them resting under the trees. 

Part 23 Winter Trip - Alpaca Farm and Yarn Shop

One day we decided to go to Wimberly to try out a pie shop and to stop at an alpaca farm out in the country that had a yarn shop called Old Oaks Ranch.

We all fell in love with these cute little guys!

Aren't they adorable?  Oh, and of course I had to buy some alpaca yarn in the yarn shop!

Part 22 Winter Trip - Back to San Antonio for a Day

We decided that before we left this area we wanted to go back to San Antonio and go up the Tower of the Americas.  This tower with a restaurant and observation deck was built for the 1968 HemisFair.  

Rising 750 feet to the antenna tip, it is 87 feet taller than Seattle's Space Needle  and 67 feet taller than the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.  It is still a popular tourist attraction today.

Downtown San Antonio...

The River Walk...

An architect with a sense of humor!

Roads, roads, everywhere roads...

The grounds outside the tower were really pretty with lots of water features and tropical plants.  

Part 21 Winter Trip - Our New Bird Feeder

When we were next in Marble Falls, we made a trip to Ace Hardware to see if we could find a bird feeder. We were so lucky as to find one that attaches to a window.  So loaded with a feeder and sunflower seeds, we put the feeder on the window over the desk in the living room.  Within a few hours the birds discovered our new feeder.

At first they were very tentative about landing so close to the window...

But soon their desire for sunflower seeds overrode their anxiety!

We discovered that there was in fact a pecking order as to who could sit at the feeder.  The male cardinals were very territorial and would no allow another male cardinal at the feeder.  However other kinds of birds were tolerated. 

 

In fact we had one male cardinal who, when full, would turn his back to the feeder and just sit there - daring another male cardinal to land!  These little guys were quite entertaining!

Part 20 Winter Trip - It's SNOWING!!!

We went to bed with the weather forecast talking about colder temperatures tomorrow with a possibility of snow flurries in central Texas.  The maps were showing the snow stopping north of Austin so we figured we would see only some rain.  Wrong!

Bill woke me up the next morning, tellling me  to hurry and look out the window.  Falling from the sky were some of the biggest, fattest, wettest snowflakes that I have ever seen.  Over the course of the day, it snowed like this three  separate times.  About two hours after each snow fell, most would have melted and by the next morning there was no trace of the snow.

When we had arrived at the park, one of the first things that Juanette did was to hang up her bird feeder.  She was nice enough to hang it where we could see it also!  We had a grand time watching the birds during the snowstorm, especially the bright red cardinals.  They were not picky, they would eat from either the feeder or the ground.  

In fact we had so much fun watching the birds, that we decided that we needed to get a bird feeder the next time we were in town.