National Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, TX March 2, 2010

We took another trip to Fredericksburg, this time to visit the National Museum of the Pacific War. This museum is actually 3 museums. The Admiral Nimitz Museum is the cornerstone of the National Museum of the Pacific War and has exhibits that focus on the life of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, his family, and his connections to Fredericksburg. Admiral Nimitz was born in Fredericksburg and raised in the Texas Hill Country.

Behind the Nimitz museum is the Garden of Peace, a gift from the people of Japan in honor and memory of Fleet Admiral Nimitz.

Also behind the Nimitz Museum is a large, outdoor memorial to the many soldiers and ships that were lost in the war. There were hundreds of plaques surrounding this beautiful garden area.

The second building houses the National Museum of the Pacific War-George H.W. Bush Gallery. This museum takes you through the complete Pacific War. Thirty-six different areas beginning with the "Seeds of Conflict", then Pearl Harbor, Corregidor & Bataan, Midway, New Guinea, etc, etc, to the "terrible new weapon" and Victory. Here Bill is standing by a jeep that was originally designed by American Bantam in Butler, PA.

This is the "terrible new weapon", the atomic bomb. Not very big, is it, for as powerful as it was and the destruction it rained on Japan.

Outside the Bush Gallery is a tribute to all the presidents from the beginning of World War II to George Bush.

The third part of the museum is the Pacific Combat Zone, which is a guided tour. This three acre site showcases the museum's large artifacts in their unique environments.

This hanger deck has a TBM Avenger, with wings folded back to save on space.

The PT boat base houses the actual PT 309. It wasn't a very big boat and was build out of wood.

This is a mock up of an invasion beach with landing craft and artillery.

An army tank was tucked back in the trees.

There was also a field hospital along with several other tanks and army vehicles.

And last was a "cemetery" honoring the six branches of our military: Army, Air Force, Navy Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Merchant Marine. Each cross told how many men were lost in each of the branches of our military. It was very humbling.

This is such a large museum that your ticket is good for two days. It is well worth a visit should you ever be in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Line Dancing in Bandera, March 3, 2010

Three days a week several of the girls get together for aerobic walking. After we put in our 2 or 3 mile workout some do Yoga and the rest do Line Dancing. I was the one who volunteered to teach the line dancing class. It was loads of fun. Here is a card Alice made for me:

I taught them 5 different dances and Alice had a comment for each one!

Char, Sandy, me, Pat and Alice. They gave me a hooded sweatshirt embroidered with "Coach Barb" on the front and a bottle of wine!

So cute!

Of course we had to go to Bandera's 11th Street Cowboy Bar and "strut our stuff". On Wednesday they sponsor a "Steak Night". Everyone takes steak, chicken, whatever you want on the grill. They provide the grills and you can buy "sides" of potatoes and salad.

Steak night brings out a lot of people and it was really crowded but we found a space to dance. They always have a live band on Steak Night.

Here's the happy gang after a few beers! (Except Bill, of course) Bill, me, Sandy, Alice, Pat, and Charlie (Alice's husband). Pat and Sandy are retired teachers from Michigan and Alice and Charlie are from Colorado. What a fun night!

2010-03-01 This and That Around Buckhorn

Just a typical day around Buckhorn Lake Resort starts with a breakfast burrito of, eggs, potatoes, sausage, and salsa on a tortilla.

My sister-in-law, Judy, was visiting a friend in San Antonio and we were able to get together for lunch at the Peach Tree Cafe in Fredericksburg. It was good to see her again. She has been busy showing her two Golden Retrievers in Florida the month of February. I'm glad we got the chance to see each other before we head to Oregon this spring.

Usually once a week several people in the park get together for a "jam session" in the barn. We have a banjo player, mandolin player, and several guitar players and they all sing! Here's BC (right) doing a Willie Nelson song. BC is a workamper and does all the mowing in the park.

Here's the group pickin' and grinnin'. It is fun to sit around and listen to them play and sing.

Spring is peeking into the Hill Country. This is the flower bed filled with pansies and daffodils in front of the office. We've planted about 10 dozen pansies around the park.

Here's another bed in front of one of our cottages.

Bill is hard at work keeping the pools clean.

I've taken a liking to Mexican food! Here's supper: rice, beef enchiladas, and refried beans.

I took Ceilidh for a walk and shot this sunset picture. This is just west of our tennis courts on the bank of Goat Creek which runs through the resort.

A full moon is overlooking an empty site beside our RV tonight. The end of another perfect day at Buckhorn Lake Resort.

Life is good.......

San Antonio Rodeo and Stock Show Feb. 2009

We took two trips to San Antonio in February to see the Rodeo and Stock Show. On the first trip we checked out all the vendors (700+) and watched some of the cowboy competitions. The San Antonio Rodeo and Stock Show has been voted the best indoor rodeo in the U.S. the last 5 years by the cowboys themselves. This years rodeo was from Feb. 4 to Feb. 21.

We were able to watch the "Versitility Ranch Horse Competition" the day we attended. This cowboy and his horse are looking through the herd for a particular calf that he has to "cut" out of the herd. The horse must remain very quiet so as not to scatter the herd.

Once the calf is cut out of the herd it is all up to the horse to keep him from rejoining the herd. These horses have to be very agile as you can see from the way he is turning to keep between the calf and the herd.

Bill found "Bill's Tractor" exhibit in the commercial area.

2009 total attendance was 1,313,785.

Last year over $8.1 million was committed to youth and education.

There are activities going on every day from 8 am until the concert is over at around 11 pm.

The second trip to San Antonio was to view the rodeo and the Alan Jackson concert. Here is part of the opening ceremony.

Over 5,000 volunteers serving on 37 committees help put on this annual event.

You can see the cowboy coming off his horse in order to throw this steer to the ground. Some of the cowboys can do this in less than 3 seconds.

Heading and heeling-one cowboy ropes the steer by the horns, then the second cowboy ropes the two hind legs.

Saddle bronc riding is always exciting. Anyone that says these animals are mistreated are mistaken. They are well fed, fat, and only work 8 seconds a night and only a few days a week.

The cowgirls like the barrel racing. They can go around 3 barrels in about 17 seconds.

Of course the highlight of the Rodeo is the bull riding. These animals, too, are healthy and fat!

The real highlight of the evening was a one hour concert by Alan Jackson! He put on a great show.

Cowboy Mardi Gras in Bandera Texas, Feb. 6, 2010

On Saturday, Feb. 6, we went to Bandera (the Cowboy Capital of the World) for their Cowboy Mardi Gras Celebration. I finally got Bill to wear his cowboy hat that he bought last summer in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

We found this colorful couple enjoying the parade from the back for their van. They came all the way from the Gulf Coast for the celebration.

You never know what kind of animals you will see in Texas. There are over 100,000 exotic animals in the Hill Country including camels.

How about these longhorns??

After the parade we headed over to the 11th Street Cowboy bar. There was a gumbo cookoff going on in the street. That's Sue and Martin with Bill. Martin is the maintenance man at Buckhorn Resort and Sue does medical transcription from their RV.

Inside there was good Cajun music, dancing and of course lots of drinking. Looks like this party will be going on long into the night.

How many times did you see Stanley??

Flat Stanley Comes to Texas Jan. 30, 2010

This is Flat Stanley. He is our granddaughter's school project in Baltimore, Maryland. Each student is to send their "Stanley" to someone who will "dress" him in local attire and take pictures of him in various parts of the country. So, since Stanley came to Texas, I had to make him a cowboy! I outfitted him with a cowboy hat, vest, big belt buckle, jeans and boots.

Stanley arrived in Kerrville, Tx on Jan. 30, 2010. Bill is showing him our Rv that we live in fulltime. He was impressed as to how big it is.

One of the first places we took Stanley was to Luckenbach, Texas where he met Virgil, the "store guy". Stanley decided he liked country music and that "everybody's somebody in Luckenbach, Texas"!

Watch our future Blogs and see if you can spot Stanley on our travels.

Toyota Factory, San Antonio Jan 27, 2010

We went to the Toyota Factory in San Antonio with our friends and fellow workampers, Bill & Sue. I know Toyota has a lot of safety issues going on now, but the tour was not the less impressive. They have on site doctors, dentists, and eye doctors as well as a clinic for workers and their families. They have a work out room with physical therapists who recommend exercises for employees so they don't hurt themselves on the assembly line. Employees don't have to lift over 25 pounds as there is machinery to do that for them. The plant is very energy efficient and they recycle most of their water. They really seem to care about their employees.

On the way back to Kerrville, we stopped at "The Rim" which is a large shopping mall. Bill and Sue recommended Maggiano's for lunch. It was like being in old Chicago, very elegant, Frank Sinatra singing in the background, etc. We had a delicious Italian lunch before going to the Bass Pro Shop to look around. Good friends, good food. It was a great day!