Texas

We are exactly where I do not want to be during the summer - Texas. I prefer to cross Texas in October to avoid the heat. Well, we have been in the wrong place for months. And so it goes. A high pressure system is in the midwest and the forecast is 99 everyday for the next week.

Oh well, we have crossed the 100th parallel where things are green, trees grow and lakes are abundant and filled with water. 

Saturday, August 24 - From Littlefield to Haskell City Park.

In the little town of Haskell, where we stopped for a night, THIS TV broadcast one of my all time fav movies. A little known one by Peter Bogdanovich, The Last Picture Show, made in 1971. I became acquainted with small Texas towns when I was 21. That was 1966, so the period of this film matches the period when I came to know Texas. As we were passing through towns on US380 on the way to Haskell, I was silently thinking of the film, so it was a real treat when it came on. There is not a bad performance in the cast, but it's Ben Johnson who makes the film for me. Now I need to see the sequel Texasville again.

We were friends, me and this old man 
We's like desperados waitin' for a train 
Desperados waitin' for a train 

He's a drifter, a driller of oil wells 
He's an old school man of the world 
He taught me how to drive his car when he was too drunk to 
And he'd wink and give me money for the girls 
And our lives was like, some old Western movie

Oh BTW, there was this girl in The Last Picture Show

I am still available Cybil, call me

Sunday, August 25 -  We are here to visit the George W. Bush Library, which is the beginning of our Presidential Library tour in Texas.  We are staying at a Corp of Engineers CG.  It's HOT in Texas. [psst Dorothy, that's why I like to wait until October to cross Tejas]

Monday, August 26 - We drove to Southern Methodist University (SMU) to the George W. Bush Library.  This is the fourth Presidential Library we have visited.  The first one we visited was Harry S .Truman, followed by Richard M. Nixon and Ronald W. Reagan.  We were blown away by Truman's Library it was so fantastic.  It really brought history to life and we spent many hours there. President Nixon's was also fascinating and also covered a lot of history.  There was even a Marine One. President Reagan's Library was not as much history as the other two, but still very interesting.  Not only was there  Marine One there but so was an Air Force One. 

So this brings us to President Bush's Library.  This hard to explain.  I love President Bush and I miss him.  When I see pictures of the wonderful things that he has done I can almost cry.  So this gets us to the library.  I was so excited to go there.  But we were somewhat disappointed.  The main focus was, of course,  the September 11, 2001 attacks and the War on Terrorism (yes, it is a war, I don't care what the current bozo calls it and those people want us dead).  The gifts that are given to the President by the Head's of State of foreign countries is impressive.  But the gifts that are given to the First Lady are just fantastic.  The one that made an impression on me was a diamond and sapphire (lots & lots of diamonds) necklace, earrings,  bracelet and ring that was given to Mrs. Bush from the King of Saudi Arabia.  The President and First Lady have to turn them over to our government when they leave office.  They can get them back for use in the Presidential Libraries. It was smaller than the other libraries.  I'm trying to figure out my problem - maybe it's because he has not been out of office a long time and I vividly remember all that went on during this time.  I am not saying don't visit, just don't have high expectations.  Like at Nixon's Library, there is a duplicate of the Rose Garden.  Also a reproduction of the Oval Office when he was there.  You get to sit in the Oval Office and even at the desk - kind of fun.

Tuesday, August 27 - We got a new tire for Koko to replace the one that was blown out.  Discount Tires was very nice and got the job done quickly.  We then drove to the Apple Store because my computer is having some problem and we needed to get that checked out.  They were too busy to help us, will try in Austin.  There isn't an Apple Store in Montgomery.  We found an absolutely delicious Indian restaurant, Majaraja - sometimes you just get lucky.

Wednesday, August 28 - We arrived at our stopover Llano, TX.  Llano is a small town in the Texas Hill Country, which bills itself as the deer hunting capital of he world.  That and Cooper's Bar-b-que.   In our opinion, it is the very best bar-b-que in the U. S.  We each got a large slab of ribs for our lunch.  Don also got some goat.  There are several items you can purchase, but you get pinto beans and white bread with each meal, so we didn't need anything else.  The ribs were delicious and we had enough left over for another meal.  

Thursday, August 29 - We drove around Llano sightseeing before we returned to Cooper's for lunch.  This time we had prime rib - which like the ribs, was the most delicious prime rib we have ever had.  It was well worth the extra miles that we drove to get to Llano.

Friday, August 30 - Arrived at Bastrop which positions us to see the two remaining Presidential Libraries.  We had a quick lunch and headed off to Austin to the Lyndon B. Johnson Library.  This was a very well done library with lots of pictures, papers, and videos.  One thing that was interesting is a life-size automaton of Johnson. The eyes, lips and one are move as he talks.

Nice Bling

Another thing we enjoy is visiting state capitols, so since we were in Austin, we went to the capitol. The capitol is massive and elaborate, which is what you would expect.  I thought we would spend about 45 minutes there, but we spent an hour and a half.  Luckily we did not get a parking ticket.  It was a very educational day.

Saturday, August 31 - It is hot, hot, hot in Texas and so we did nothing except drive around Bastrop. The town was founded in 1832 and there are many old house that are in great repair.  It's great to see architecture from the past that people care for today.  Another thing we did was go to HEB, a Texas grocery store.  The HEB's that we have been to are very large, clean, and has a huge selection of fruits and vegetables that are very fresh.  A fun thing about traveling is going to our "favorite" grocery stores.

Sunday, September 1 - We went to College Station to the George H. W. Bush Library.  He was only President one term, but he served our country in so many capacities.  The tour of his library took three hours.  I learned a lot about him that I did not know.  One thing that I did know is that he is gentleman and is very well respected.  Also he is a WW II hero - a member of the Greatest Generation.  He and Mrs. Bush have continued to serve our country since they left office.  It makes me wonder, we did not have a Korean or Viet Nam veteran as president, will we have one from Desert Storm or the War on Terror.

Downtown Bastrop, TX

September 2 through September 5 - The final hops home. Monday, Tyler, TX, Tuesday, Poverty Point, LA, Wednesday, Okatibbee, MS, Thursday, Home. 13 hops from Silverton, CO in 19 days.