Westward Ho the Wagon! April 24, 2010

After "waltzing across Texas" (and New Mexico), we made our "home" in Justin's Diamond RV Park, just outside Tucson, AZ

Ceilidh enjoyed her daily walks around the park.

These are dead Saguaro cacti. The insides are very hard wooden spines. Notice the moon between the branches on the right hand cactus.

There were 4 miles of desert trails going out of the rear of the campground. This is an old cactus, from the size, probably 150 years old.

The cacti are just starting to bloom. It will be beautiful in this area in a couple of weeks.

Here is another trail in the Sonoran Desert. I loved walking here in the early morning (6 am) morning or evening just before sunset.

Sonset in the desert is breathtaking.

Our RV at sunset.

Picnic on the Llano River April 7, 2010

We found a beautiful place for a picnic lunch at the Llano City Park on the banks of the Llano River.

There was a dam near the picnic area that provided that peaceful sound of running water along with beautiful scenery.

Guy, Gina, Judy and Schuster. They have become such wonderful friends. We will miss them as they travel to South Dakota for the summer. Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we'll meet up again next fall back here in the Texas Hill Country! You meet such amazing people when you RV!

Guy, Gina, Bill, Schuster, Barb and Ceilidh. The dogs had a great "play date".

We took a back road home. The blue bonnets are everywhere! Oh, so pretty.

The dogs were worn out. Here Ceilidh is sleeping and Schuster has his head laying on her head. They have become such good friends, too.

This will probably be my last post from Texas as we, too, are preparing to "move" for the summer to Diamond Lake, Oregon where we will be working at a campground just a few miles from Crater Lake in the Cascade Mountains.

So long, for now. Happy Trails......

Texas Blue Bonnets,April 7, 2010

We met our friends, Guy and Judy and headed north toward Llano to find some blue bonnets in bloom. We had promised the dogs a play date and picnic. There were all excited in the back of Judy's car. Left to right, Schuster, Ceilidh, and Gina.

We decided to take the Willow City Loop, a much publicized area for blue bonnet viewing. And they were right! Field of blue bonnets stretched for miles and miles.

Up close and personal-blue bonnets are a member of the Lupine family. They are much smaller than the Lupines we had in Pennsylvania, but the volume of them is breathtaking.

Isn't the entrance to this ranch beautiful??

I just had to stop and get a picture to this ranch gate that says "Take me back to my sweet Texas home."

The yucca were also blooming. You could see them on the mountain sides. Yes, there are some pretty tall mountains in the hill country.

Other spectacular views of the flowers and rugged hill country terrain,

We found this field of Indian Paint Brushes blooming in profusion.

Some areas were full of blue bonnets and these white flowers.

Even the main route (16) north to Llano was lined with the blue bonnets. It is truly a magical time of the year in the Texas Hill Country.

Now we need to find a place for a picnic and let the dogs play.

Picnic on the Pedernales River, TX April 7, 2010

After touring the Living History Farm and the LBJ Ranch, we had a picnic on the banks of Lyndon Johnson's beloved Pedernales River.


I had brought a bottle of Almond Champagne which Guy is pouring here. Note the fancy cup! But it didn't affect the taste!!






Judy was busy getting all the goodies out of the coolers: homemade hoagies, potato salad, pasta salad, oatmeal-raisin-pecan cookies, yum!

Bill, Judy, and Guy enjoying lunch overlooking the river.

I can see why President Johnson loved this area. It is one of the prettiest places in Texas.

LBJ National Historic Park, Stonewall, TX April 1 ,2010

After leaving the Living History Farm, we toured the LBJ Ranch. This is the lane leading to the rendition of the LJB's birthplace, our 36th President, 1963-69. The original house was torn down in the 1940s and replaced with a nicer home. Some of the original wood and limestone from the fireplace were reused. A "dog trot" or open hallway was included to provide ventilation in hot weather. This house was used between 1964 and1966 as a guest cottage for overflow company fromt the Texas White House.

Just down the road is the Johnson Family Cemetery. The tall monument on the right is Lyndon Johnson's and next is Lady Bird's. The other smaller markers to the left are Lyndon's brothers and sisters. The cemetery is located under old Live Oak trees which provide much needed shade in the summer. The Pedernales River is in the background by the treeline.

Flags wave proudly in the almost constant Texas breezes in front of the "Texas White House". Johnson was the first president to have a working "white house" outside of Washington, DC. It was a healing place far removed from the turbulence of Washington. He is said to have spent 1/4 th of his presidency here. Lyndon Johnson was doubtless the last President whose roots and early experience bridged the gap between the old American of local frontiers, crossroads, and close neighbors, and the new America of world power, big cities, and unknown neighbors. His deepest motive as a public man was to make people neighbors again. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

The office of the Texas White House is located at the left by the pillered column. Lynda and Luci spent a lot of time doing homework this area while their father ran the country. To the right and front of the house is an enormous Live Oak tree. Many heads of state and foreign dignitaries had meetings under this tree. I wonder what stories it could tell??

Lyndon had a great sense of humor. He would often drive this car around the ranch. Many times, with dignitaries aboard, he would drive down a hill towards the Pedernales River, suddenly shouting "I have no brakes" and the car would hurl into the river. Unbeknownst to those aboard, the car would float on the river! He also had two white Lincoln continentals which he drove out on the ranch to look at the prize cattle he raised.

The back of the house overlooks the airstrip that was built when he was president and in the distance, the fields of cattle.

Lyndon loved the Texas Hill Country and the Pedernales River. He often said "All the world is welcome here......"

He declined a second run for President in 1969 and died at the ranch in 1973. Lyndon told Lady Bird that he wanted men in their pick up trucks and ladies with their slip hanging below the hem of their dress to be as welcomed at his funeral as those who would come in their private jets from all over the country. He was a man who truly loved his HillCcountry neighbors.

Lady Bird lived here until her death in 2007 and the ranch was given to Texas State Parks. All workers on the ranch have a home and job for the rest of their lives where they continue to raise prize cattle.

Living History Farm, Stonewall, TX March 31, 2010

On Thursday, April 1, we joined friends, Judy and Guy and went to the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm in Stonewall, TX. The setting for the present-day living history activities is an authentic Hill Country farm. Johann and Christine Sauer, along with their four children settled this land in 1869. The family prospered and grew and, by 1885, several stone buildings were built near the original rock and log cabins. Eventually the Sauers had 10 children. One of those, Augusta Sauer Lindig, served as midwife at the birth of President Lyndon Johnson.



The farm raises it own cows for milk and also to butcher in the fall, along with hogs. They also have sheep, chickens, and mules.

Guy, Judy, and Bill are standing in front of the fenced in front yard. The building at the left is the "summer kitchen" where produce is canned, animals butchered, corn ground, and lye soap made, among other chores. The main house is in the background to the right.

Some of the chores are seasonal, such as canning and butchering. As you can see, they put up a large variety of fruits and vegetables from the garden grown on the farm. These are the foods that feed the interpreters every day. They grow all that they consume.

Another daily job is "separating" the milk. Raw milk is poured into the large bowl at the top, then, by turning the handle, the milk is separated, cream going out one spout and skim milk out the other. I can remember my dad and brother separating milk on our family farm back in the 1950s in Pennsylvania. Mom would churn butter with the cream and the skim milk was fed to the pigs with their mash.

Costumed interpreters carry out the day-to-day activities of a turn-of-the-century Texas-

German farm family. Here in the kitchen meals are cooked daily for the "help", butter is churned and cheese is made. Today they were having cornbread and chili. The gentleman at the left was raised on a farm such as this.

They also have time for planting flowers by the fence that surrounds the house. The Beckmann family acquired the property in 1900. A good cotton crop in 1915 allowed Emil and Emma Beckmann to build a new barn, to add a frame room onto the old rock structure and to construct porches connecting to a lovely Victoria house covered with fashionable pressed tin.

The barn is empty today, as all the animals are out in the fields.

In 1966, Edna Beckmann Hightower sold the site to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Restoration work was undertaken and the farm opened to the public in 1975. Since then time has stood still and the farm remains forever a small piece of Texas as it was at the beginning of the 20th century.

St. Patrick's Day at Buckhorn Lake, Texas 2010

Several of the "guests" in the park got together, decorated their golf carts and had a St. Patrick's Day parade. They drove around the park, complete with Irish music playing.

There was even a motorcycle or two in the parade.

Even Ceilidh (the German dog with the Scottish name) got dressed up in her green shirt and green beads to watch the parade.

Later, for supper, we enjoyed a corned beef and cabbage dinner from the "barn".