Over 15 years ago on a work trip I was able to visit the site where John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Despite not being born when this happened, I found the visit deeply impactful. When Lee and I found ourselves close to Dealey Plaza we decided to drive over. Unfortunately things were very different on this visit from my experience many years ago.
It was very crowded for one thing and because of COVID we were unable to get tickets. We did walk around the outside, but the atmosphere was very different. It’s always been a busy working street, but the traffic patterns were different and it was very hard to pull into a parking space. We were also aggressively approached by someone looking for money as soon as we got out of our truck. And because of COVID tickets were sold out for the day and we were unable to get inside.
The memorial is inside a circle of a VERY busy street. Despite this picture there was a steady stream of trafficThe X’s in the road show where he was when the shots were fired
The area outside of the book depository (where Lee Harvey Oswald took his shot(s)) is a historical monument but the Sixth Floor Museum itself is not a government agency Since Lee really wanted to go he went back by himself on a weekday, but his experience was very different than mine and he was pretty disappointed.
When I went to the museum many years ago I didn’t really care about the various conspiracy theories BUT I was able to get close to the spot where Lee Harvey Oswald took the shots. I remember that moment very clearly and my initial thought which was “My grandmother could have made that shot.” Being in the space left me convinced that it was not multiple shooters, and I wanted to see what Lee thought when he stood there. Lee has always believed there was more than one gunman and to be honest he knows much more about the gun mechanics and various theories than I do. I was curious to see his take when he stood there, but the entire section was glassed off. To the best of my memory this was not the case 15 years ago.
The area was entirely glassed inAll Lee got was this picture with the actual angleAnd a peak out another window that was a different view
Since that was the entire reason for his second visit we were both very disappointed. He did find the information on the various theories interesting and he was very excited to see the Zapruder camera. That was the camera that caught the footage when it happened. Lee is a camera guy so for him this is a big deal. They also had the camera that captured the picture of when Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey.
As far as the second shooter theories go Lee is even more convinced after his visit. He also believes that until everyone connected with the event is dead, we wont know the truth. Hopefully that happens in our lifetime because if it was a conspiracy the American people definitely have a right to know at some point.
As far as whether or not you should visit, I will leave that up to you. I just want you to know what you are walking into. Definitely plan ahead and go on a weekday if you can.
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Since we had some extra time on Sunday we went to see the Japanese gardens but ultimately ended up seeing the Fort Worth Botanic gardens as well. To be honest we were a few weeks early for the best color, but it was great to see so many tulips and perennials in bloom. Initially our directions took us to the entrance to the Japanese Garden, but that entrance was closed and we were directed to enter through the Botanic Gardens and the pass through between the two areas was open. It was only $12 for both and well worth it.
The front entranceIts a large footprint. We certainly got our steps in. I liked that each section had a theme. Loved this butterfly chair
The best part of the Botanic gardens was throughout the gardens there were stick sculptures made by David Rogers. They were absolutely beautiful and we spent lots of time trying to find them. The best was a set of stick huts that my pictures couldn’t come close to capturing. Beautiful and fun!!!
Loved the detail on this guy. He was huge. Spooky spiderThe eyes on this ant were amazingLee with the ant for scalePatrick Dougherty the artist is a genius. You can see his work at stickwork.netLooking up inside the stickwork villageLee thinks he looks like Guy Fierri in this pic
Although none of the roses were in bloom there were lots of flowers and that bright color was wonderful after so much Texas brown.
My favorite part of the gardens though was the Japanese garden. It was a much smaller footprint but absolutely beautiful, with loving attention to detail in the smallest spaces. We learned they host weddings and what a beautiful venue it would be. We also learned that it was once a concrete pit and what a lovely change they have made to it.
One entranceBamboo!!Real turtles sunbathingThese three monkeys made me think of my girls . We took pictures when they were kids like this. Lots of koi fish in the pondsBeautiful building with sand drawings insideThis may be where some weddings are performed but there were multiple places that would work. Fantastic gift shopOne of my favorite things were the many different types of walkwaysEnormous Yin Yang symbolWe loved this little fountainLee and I each put a rock inside the fountain
I am so glad we came here, because even though it wasn’t on my original list it was one of my favorite things we did in Dallas.
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Since the National Cowgirl Museum was in a separate part of town we decided to go on Sunday. Again, I didn’t know a lot about it, but this turned out to be MUCH better than expected. It’s a beautiful building and as Lee said, since it is a women’s museum it was clean, bright, and smelled nice. That’s a little tongue in cheek but it was a gorgeous building. We also got lucky because they had a small exhibit from the show 1883. I absolutely loved that series and it was awesome to see the actual clothes they wore when filming.
Super cool door pullerLoved, loved seeing this outfit worn by the main character
The museum is two floors and let me apologize in advance because I don’t have as many pictures as I usually have. Somehow I lost a group of them in transfer from phone to computer and there are many more exhibits than I have depicted here. Thankfully between Lee and I there were enough left to give you a feel for the museum. As an FYI, it has existed since the 1970’s but only moved into this new building 17 years ago. The building looks brand new though and is obviously well cared for.
Annie Oakley figured prominently (as she should have) and there was an entire section dedicated to herThe museum had people from several cultures including Native American womenAnd South American trick ridersMy favorite piece was this beautiful bronze with two cowgirls riding on it.
Although it was an adult museum there were a couple of fun activities, including a booth where you could add yourself to an old time photo and for free text it to yourself. Lee and I had a blast with that and was a wonderful part of the museum.
Look for Lee in the backAnd I am on the rightOk…I got a little silly 🙂
It was wonderful museum and I am so glad that we went. I highly recommend it if you are in the Fort Worth area. Also it is in a cultural center where the Will Rogers stadium is. This stadium is beautiful and specifically for horse and cattle related events. And I bought one of my all time favorite magnets there. Loved it!
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Over the years I have been to Dallas more times than I can count, but I never visited the Fort Worth Stockyards. People invited me multiple times, but in the back of my head I knew this was something Lee would really like and chose to wait. So when we were planning on visiting Dallas to see the Presidential museum a visit to the Stockyards was #2 on my list.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect and unfortunately didn’t do alot of planning so we arrived later than we would like. We like to get to places around 9am (and then leave at noon to beat the crowds) but on this Saturday we rolled in closer to 11am. Parking was easy to find, although we had a long walk over the stockyards to the main part of it, and mainly by following some local folks eventually managed to find our way right in time to see the “cattle drive” through the area. I say “cattle drive” because it was around 9 steers and although they were beauties watching them walk might be thrilling for kids but wasn’t that exciting.
The walkway over the cattle yards to the main area. Unfortunately there were very few animals to look at. I liked this description of a cattle drive formation and which position was what. What we actually saw though was below
The center square was packed with people and everyone was crowded along the parade route for the crowds. Once they opened it up folks dispersed, but I was surprised by how many families with young kids there were. Once we got a look around though it made more sense. The activities were mainly for kids (armadillo racing, milking a cow etc) surrounded by lots of shopping and bars for adults. They even had a giant TV screen in the central square for dads to watch March Madness while their wives shopped. All the activities were priced a la carte and there were long lines for all of them.
Cool roping standThe cows are fake which is kind of weird but makes sense for the poor cowsYep armadillo races..that was a first for meThese baby cowboy boots were the cutestIts open carry and they had beer in tubs for sale on the sidewalkThey have scheduled gun fights Of course a mechanical bullThe “dad” area
I’ll be honest it wasn’t really our thing. It was super crowded, got very hot as the day went on, and super pricey. For example their was a John Wayne experience but that was $21 a person and I just wasn’t willing to pay that without knowing what we were getting. Thankfully I had researched the food and chose the Cattleman for lunch which is an older local restaurant. It was a really cool setup with each room having it’s own chef and brick grill, but as good as the steak was, $100 for lunch was pretty steep and in general I am not a big fan of paying more for location and that’s what it felt like.
We liked the stars of western heroesWe see RFD TV in our travels and it was cool to see their office
I will say that the shopping was pretty cool. They had lots of items I had never seen before and we enjoyed wandering through the shops. As the day wore on though the heat and claustrophobia started to get to me and I asked Lee if we could leave earlier than he would have liked. Truly it would have been fine if we would have gotten an earlier start and really I know better. I did pay $5 to sit on a steer. I couldn’t help myself and really that was totally worth it!
Super cool to see the King Ranch brandLOVED this it was beautifully madeThey had stagecoach ridesHad to talk Lee out of buying steer horns for our truck 🙂This little coffee trailer was coolStuffed squirrleels playing cards you dont see that everywhereOr stuffed raccoons only $350The giant hippo head was also something newRacks and racks of cow hidesThese foot stools were super coolWagon ridesAnd here is the steer I sat on. He didn’t seem to care muchbut I had to sign a release before getting on
I put Fort Worth Stockyards in the glad I did it wouldn’t do it again category, but Lee liked it enough he said he might go back by himself during the week. Next up the Cowgirl Museum which I though was in the same area, but actually wasn’t so we did it on Sunday.
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One of the interesting things about RV life is that it has changed my views on quality versus quantity. Lee was always a person who chose the former, but to be honest I liked lots of stuff, and the cheaper the better. When you are living in an RV though there just isn’t room for tons of stuff and although I still go out of my way to find a good deal, I have come to appreciate having less but making sure those things are what I really want.
I bring it up because I have been thinking for a while about replacing our ceiling fan, and for the first time in my life (true story) decided to skip the cheaper utilitarian options and get something “fancy”. Spending an extra couple hundred of dollars for something pretty is unusual for me, but in this case at least I decided I was worth it 🙂
Finding a ceiling fan wasn’t that easy though. Because of the layout of our cabinets and our slides, we had to find a fan that was no larger than 42″ at the end of the blade and almost all of the ones at that size were pretty basic. There were some absolutely beautiful ones at Lowe’s in the 60″ or larger range, but nothing really good at all in the smaller size. Instead of racing all over town going to different stores, we went and looked on Amazon and found something very interesting.
There is a relatively new design (at least to us) with retractable blades and immediately I was interested. Cleaning dust off of the ceiling fan blades is what led me to wanting a new one and I thought it was possible bringing the blades in might reduce the dust. There were several styles in the size we needed and when Lee saw one with a tiffany style I was hooked. When I saw the price was pretty reasonable I was all in.
Lee ordered the fan and it came in a huge box, with nice styrofoam to keep all parts safe. I was absolutely ecstatic (watch the video for my full reaction) and it still makes me smile every time I look at it.
Original fan, pretty basicPretty new fan in the box. The fans come in clear or smoked color. I chose the latter in the hopes it would hide dirt. Lee showing the difference in light fixtures. I was worried it would be too big in the room but it actually looks great. Blades and light fixture removed firstLee unscrewing the base. Good stepladder definitely needed.Per Lee the wiring was no different than wiring a residential ceiling fan. The fan came with these cool strips of lights that are held in place by tiny magnets. Really neat. Mostly it was a one person job but I did hold the fixture at the end while he screwed it in. He probably could have done it alone but it was easier.
The best part of the fan is it has a great remote control and the lights come in three different color tones and a night light option. The fans work great coming in and out and it gives the whole room an upgraded feel. Oh and did I mention there is more airflow?? Love this new ceiling fan on every level and super happy with the purchase.
In addition to the ceiling fan, Lee has been hard at work adding other simple little changes to the RV that have made a huge difference in our lifestyle quality. Every time he thinks of one of these ideas we are both amazed it never occurred to us before…it seems so simple.
He bought a simple tea caddy to put above our Keurig pods which I use to put teabags in the Keurig machine. They are cheaper than the tea pods and frankly I think the tea tastes better this way. The coolest part of the caddy is it completely matches the wood. Lee built himself a pullout charging station to put next to his desk. All of these cords were kind of shoved into an open space which worked very poorly. The reading glasses by the way are rechargeable and he uses them at night so the lights don’t need to be on.
But the absolute best by far is below. We are always fighting counter space and we use a drying rack for our dishes. The drying rack took up 50% of our limited counter space which forced me to use the kitchen table most of the time. Lee in an inspirational moment tried something really simple and wow what a huge difference it has made. I know it seems crazy simple and again cant believe we didn’t think of it, but he put a couple of hooks in the backsplash and hung up the rack. As long as we quickly put the dishes away after drying we will have counter space most of the time. HUGE change in our day-to-day and again I am super happy.
I know I have said it before, but I am very grateful to have a person in my life with such a creative mind. I often think about things in a straight line, but Lee is always looking for ways to make things better and his inspirations really have a positive impact on my life!
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We very much appreciate your support of our blog.
You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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Our next Presidential library to visit was in Dallas and was the George W. Bush Presidential Library. It was interesting visiting the two Bush’s back to back and seeing the differences. Because George W. is alive there was no gravesite to visit, but we were told that they were preparing the space. I appreciate the forethought in preparing a burial space in advance, but that must be weird to design your Presidential burial site when alive. As we have learned though, several presidents (including George Washington) were very specific in their instructions regarding their burial and since it is the nation’s history and their final resting place it is good that they can weigh in.
Like his father’s, the GW Bush museum is located on a college campus, in this case it was Southern Methodist University. It is a beautiful campus and the library has a central location. Again, we went at noon on Sunday (this time slot has been great for our visits) so parking wasn’t an issue, but it is a relatively small lot and there is a fee for parking. In addition the library costs $26, which we both thought was on the steep side. We paid it though, as this visit was the main reason we came to Dallas and went through security into a beautiful foyer.
Security checks are required at every library
Once again there was minimal information about his pre-presidential life which I did find a little disappointing. I did learn that GW was the first President to play little league and he was a lifelong baseball fan. He had his wonderful baseball collection on display and even a pair of Cowboy boots with a baseball logo on them.
They talked a little bit about the election and the electoral map, but again the information was somewhat sparse. It was a beautiful building though with huge photos and the displays were very well done. It has been interesting with these modern presidents to see what they choose to focus on and in all fairness with an eight year presidency lots happened.
I loved seeing the inaugural dress.
My favorite part of the library was how they handled the 9/11 attacks and I thought this section was extremely well done. They had a daily accounting of what he did for the first several days along with a beautiful memorial wall with all of the names and running news feed of the towers. Almost everyone who was alive at the time remembers where they were when the towers fell and I felt this entire section of the museum was handled beautifully.
The moment when he was told we were under attack. A lot has been made of his facial expression in that moment and I really appreciated that they showed the video clip. He was in front of a group of small children, on camera, and very early into his presidency. In retrospect, I’m not sure how well anyone would have handled that moment. What mattered the most was what happened next. A piece of one of the towersThe names on the wall were all the people who diedDaily accountings of his decisionsThe jacket he wore in NYC with the fire fighters patch
The next section of the museum was about the war on terror, but to be honest I wasn’t crazy about how this was handled. It focused more on the Afghanistan actions than the Gulf War and for something that was such a huge part of our lives for so long I would have appreciated more information.
Sadaam Husseins gunThe numerous laws that were enacted like the Patriot act and the creation of the department of Homeland Security
That was all pretty heavy so it was nice when the next section was about the Oval office and GW’s relationship with George Sr. The only other father and son pair to be elected was John and John Quincy Adams and as an inside joke with his father GW had a picture of John Quincy in the oval office. As always I liked the oval office recreation but for the first time they had two photographers in the office that would take your picture. This would be available for sale in the gift shop and both Lee and I felt it was over the top. We particularly didn’t like that they would refer to whoever sat down as Mr. or Madam President and although you could say we took it too seriously, we feel strongly about the symbolism of the oval office and president. That being said a little girl sat in the chair while we were there and looked delighted.
Speaking of kids, they had a lovely section for children which included the dogs and a wonderful video made by the Bush twins. Laura’s hand was all over this part of the museum and because she was a librarian it was beautifully done. The video by the twins was my favorite part of the entire museum when they talked about their dad and what living in the White House was like. Growing up under a microscope would be tough for anyone, but those girls were obviously raised with love and laughter.
They had letters that kids wrote to Miss Beazley and Barney. So cute.Barbara and Jenna
I was also pleased to see that they had a large section on Laura. Because she was so quiet about it, I didn’t realize how much traveling she had done and how she advocated for literacy worldwide. They also had a sample of her china (I am fascinated by the choices for some reason) and some more of her outfits. Yes, the First Lady’s life is about way more than hair and clothes but I still enjoy looking at what they wore.
I loved the matching jackets
Loved this outfitI completely agree
Another sobering section of the museum talked about all the crises that happened during his 8 years in office. It started with the 9/11 attack, the War against Iraq, Katrina, and the Dot.Com crash. No wonder he aged so much during his presidency.
Such a simple document to declare a war.
All of the above was on one side of the museum, but the other side was an entire wing dedicated to laughter in the presidency. This was a wonderful exhibit, inclusive of many presidents where GW talked about how important he felt laughter was. It was very interesting, because he took alot of criticism for not being serious enough, but again in retrospect I appreciated his owning it and found myself chuckling at several points during the display. There was also a quiz on the wall where you could answer questions about your sense of humor and see what president you lined up with. I really enjoyed the entire exhibit and found it refreshing after the seriousness of the other side.
Loved thisI lined up with George SrLee lined up with FDR
All in all it was a nice museum, but I do think it was overpriced and I was pretty disappointed in the gift shop. Usually they have some pretty cool stuff, but this one was standard fare. Next up the Clinton museum in Little Rock as we continue to zig zag north.
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As we slowly work our way north for Lee’s summer job, we decided to take some time and visit some Presidential Libraries along the way. Thankfully there are three along our route, although the George Bush Sr library in College Station, Texas was a little out of the way. The first question you may have is why College Station, Texas. It turns out that the college lobbied for the honor. Consequently the library is in a beautiful spot and has a large piece of property attached to it.
Beautiful FrontI loved the horse statue on the side of the building The horses are standing on a recreated section of the Berlin WallThe grounds are free to walk around and we saw several students there. This is the backside of the library.A free catch and release fishing pond which was lovelyBeautiful paved walk back to the gravesiteI appreciated the simplicity of the graveGeorge, Barbara, and their daughter Robin are buried here. Robin died at the age of 3 from Leukemia which led to a lifelong commitment in supporting cancer causes. She was a beautiful little girl and it was tragic that they lost her.
The library itself is only $9 and well worth the ticket. It is a large building that includes his presidential limo, a recreation of his oval office, a piece of the Berlin wall, and artifacts from the first Gulf War.
A plane like the one he flew in WWIIA piece of the Berlin WallA recreation of the Situation Room
The library also walked through his life and I will say I had trouble with the layout and following the chronology. I actually missed a big section by mistake and had to go back and find it at the end. The beginning of his life was extremely well done and very interesting, I learned quite a bit about how he was raised and his life before becoming president. In particular I found his WWII activities of interest. He enlisted at the age of 18 and was an aerial photographer and pilot. In the course of his service he had a couple of near death experiences.
His start in intelligence began very earlyHe had to bail out in the sea was was on a raft until he was saved by a submarineHe made an emergency landing with a plane hit by shrapnel
Those experiences, especially losing his crew when his plane was downed, made him believe that God had saved him for a special purpose. This belief drove his actions, when the war was over and he went to school at Yale and later started an oil drilling company settling in Odessa, Texas. Eventually he ran as a Republican in largely Democratic Texas eventually becoming a congressman.
He played baseball at YaleHe kept his glove in the desk at the Oval Office. I love learning these sorts of things. Really personalizes the Presidents. George W going up a Texan
Although his father was a Senator in Connecticut the Bush family became true Texans, and George Sr. held a variety of high profile positions. He was on the Ways and Means Committee, Chair of the RNC, United State Ambassador to the UN, and Lead Diplomat to China. After the Watergate Scandal (which he was not aware of), President Ford sent him to China and then he became the Director of the CIA. I found the China information very interesting but was disappointed by how little there was on his time at the CIA. There was also very little information on his time as Vie President, although there was brief mention of the Iran Contra Scandal.
I loved that they rode bikes in China because Barbara wanted to live as the Chinese did
Finally, I reached his Presidency and I will say I felt a little uncomfortable as I walked through this section. This is the first Presidential library we had seen where I was an adult during the presidency and I had vivid memories walking through the exhibits. For instance I remember exactly where Lee and I were when the Gulf War was announced (The Mansfield Diner) and as parents of young children I remember how anxious we all were. The similarities to these actions to what is happening in Ukraine today didn’t help and I had a very complex set of emotions as I walked through the remainder of the building. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it did catch me by surprise.
I liked this picture. It is rare to see portraits with advisorsAnd I liked this picture of him and his son
It wasn’t all serious though and there was a great exhibit on his “crazy socks” near the end along with a stunning pair of presidential cowboy boots. I really love seeing those.
My largest disappointment was how little there was on Barbara Bush. Since she was alive when the library was made, I am sure this was by choice, but I would have loved to have seen more about her. In my opinion the displays really didn’t do justice to her work as First Lady and I hope in the future they add more information about her.
Her officeFamily literacy was her main causeThese child size displays were everywhere and I saw her hand in their inclusionWedding dressInaugural dressI loved, loved this photo by Annie Liebowitz
Definitely recommend visiting although the town of College Station doesn’t have much else to see. Lee is making a two hour drive down to Houston to see NASA though so the trip for us was totally worth it.
Supporting our Blog
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You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperbackversion on Amazonor buy the Apple version on Itunes.
This month we are on our way to getting back on track, spending $5,484 this month! We are finally heading north though, and with gas prices on the rise I imagine our costs will be going up until we arrive at Lee’s summer gig in Yellowstone. Still, it was a great month as we managed to complete lots of RV projects, he got materials to do others later on, and spend some time with our friends. For more details see below.
Entertainment – We stocked up on books and visited Austin this month. Lee also bought the complete Laugh-In DVD series that he has been looking for for years. This also includes our newspaper subscriptions and I bought a bunch of stuff to try tie dying when we land in the summer. I saw a beautiful ombre dyed flannel shirt in Gruene and would like and try to create my own.
Food – We stocked up on Costco and our new freezer is full!! We also ate with friends some.
Home Repair and Maintenance – We always take advantage of the Center for Mental Wellness to make home repairs. Lee replaced the plumbing under the bathroom sink because it was leaking, and finally found a solution for leak detection and prevention. (More on that in another post) Lee bought antennas for the cell router and WIFI which has really improved our signal. Lee cleaned our carpets with a professional rented carper cleaner (highly recommend this). Lee also bought numerous parts to complete projects in the future. Lee spent a ton of time getting us organized and it really has improved not only the space but also has made our moving days much easier. Little by little we are getting to the point where we have to do almost nothing to move apart from bringing in the slides.
Truck Fuel – Love to see $175 here, but diesel went up 50 cents over the course of two days so that’s going to obviously go way up. I will say two things about the fuel costs. First I am grateful we are making enough money that we don’t need to curtail our travel to save fuel. That has not always been the case over the last 7 years of full timing. Secondly I fully support the Ukranian people and if we need to pay higher fuel costs to help them that is a relatively small sacrifice. Personally I can’t get rid of the image of a mother with a newborn baby in the basement of a hospital because of the bombing. I’ll pay more.
Supporting our Blog
We very much appreciate your support of our blog.
You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperbackversion on Amazonor buy the Apple version on Itunes.
This is one of those catch up posts where I mention all the largely boring things we have been doing, but before you skip it I wanted to mention that I have updated the Inside Mod and Outside Mod pages. Lee has done some amazing work on our rig over the last seven years and I have linked the individual posts so things are easier to find. Enjoy!
So what’s up with us? Well first off I am a huge football fan and what an amazing year. Since I miss so many games when we are traveling Lee and I have a deal I can watch as many playoff games as I want. Well I watched most of them and they were excellent. I am not a Bengals fan but I am from Ohio so was pleased they did so well.
Then of course there was the Olympics. Lee and I are a little Olympics obsessed and try to watch some of every sport. The only thing I skipped completely this year was the women’s single ice skating. Too much drama. Don’t get me wrong doping is a serious issue especially with minors but I really use Olympics as chill time.
Anyways, during some of this Lee and I were pet sitting. We watched Callie (Bill and Kelly’s cat) and Tripp (Cori and Greg’s dog) when they went out of town on respective trips. Callie is pretty easy but Tripp and Jack love causing a ruckus when they get together. Seriously it was like having two toddlers in the house and although it was fun it was a little exhausting. 🙂
Ever vigilant for deer and delivery driversAunt Tracy is not giving me what I want so I am pouting!!
They were a ton of fun though and Lee got lots of great video.
What else? Well, we normally don’t do Valentines Day since our anniversary is Feb 4th but this year Lee bought me some flowers and an amazing collapsible pizza holder. First of all I love collapsible stuff. Second I often buy a large pizza and then eat two pieces for lunch every day, but storage is a pain, and best of all it was something I had never seen and inexpensive…super cool. Honestly one of the best Valentines presents I have ever gotten!!
Because slices aren’t even you put smaller ones firstThen use these separatorsFits great in the fridge
What else? Well, we had one weekend to ourselves here and took some time going to thrift stores. I saw a cool video on tye-dying flannels and wanted to see if I could get some from a thrift store. Plus I am always on the lookout for old cook books. Lee has started looking as well and he has gotten some great shirts and is on the lookout for tablecloths. Honestly its a fun thing to do and since we always go to non profit thrift stores the little money we spend goes to a good cause. This time Lee scored though when he found a brand new Echo Show for only $30 (Retail $159). Works great and we both really like it.
I landed a canape bakery set for $6 and using frozen bread dough made a really cool heart shaped bread. The idea is you can slice them thin and use for hors d’oeuvre. Honestly I was dubious but they actually worked great. So fun!!
And finally since we are leaving soon to head north we decided to go to all those small restaurants in Canyon Lake we always wanted to try. It was a mixed bag but fun to eat out. I have put on a couple of pounds though so back on the diet!! You would think all those dog walks would have evened things out.
Kofekalli BakeryDidn’t look like muchGreat Kolaches and Croissants!!JosiesEvery day a different dinner special. This Salisbury steak was yummy!Wildflour (correct spelling) CafeThe food was so so but this homemade raspberry cheesecake was to die for
I think I am seeing a pattern here and I forgot to mention I bought an ice cream maker and have been experimenting. My favorite so far was this old fashioned vanilla ice cream I found in a thrift store cook book. Yummy!!! But yeah I see where those extra pounds are coming from 🙂
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As people travel the country most of them have categories of things they would like to see. Some of our friends have visited the highest points in all states, and others love to visit wineries or distilleries. We tend to have multiple lists going at the same time and when one of our friends started visiting presidential sites we were intrigued. Previously we visited the LBJ ranch so I almost skipped the library and wow am I glad I didn’t.
The main thing that attracted me to the library was the exhibit they had on Lady Bird Johnson. I love learning about the first ladies (even more than the presidents) and her exhibit looked great online. So when we headed to Austin for the day this was the first thing on my list. Turns out the library is on the University of Texas campus and the signage wasn’t that great. Despite being a huge building it was hidden by a building in the forefront, but eventually we found it.
The library was behind this building. You walked underneath to get there. Huge building with beautiful surroundings and a surprising amount of people were there first thing.
Masks were mandatory because of COVID and all the theaters were closed but it was still a really great building. The entrance has his presidential limo (love seeing those) and a great gift shop. It also had the section dedicated to Lady Bird.
Claudia or Lady bird as she was nicknamed by her childhood nanny grew up in a small town in East Texas. Her father owned the local mercantile and was successful by rural standards which allowed her to go to the University of Texas and get a degree in journalism. She was an amazing woman by any standards and was the first woman to campaign without her husband. She also was his personal documentarian, using a 16mm movie camera on their press junkets to capture the moments. Consequently they had lots of film and audio in the museum and it was great seeing and hearing them throughout the various exhibits. She also was an excellent writer and I loved many of her quotes sprinkled throughout the museum.
The camera she actually usedShe raised two daughters
Her mother passed away when she was young and she found solace in nature. This became a lifelong passion and she eventually won a congressional medal of honor for that work. Although she is largely known for her work planting wildflowers throughout Texas her work was so much more than that and she was an active participant in her husbands career and work. I particularly credit her for managing to do this in such a way that did not upset the more conservative southerners of the time.
Her white house deskLoved her china patternLove this saying.
And of course the clothes were amazing. I could easily say that I could see myself wearing most of her clothes. They were simple yet stylish and I loved the colors.
The rest of the sections of the library were about the president and they were equally fascinating. I’ll be honest I didn’t have a great opinion of LBJ going into this museum, but I walked out with a much higher level of respect. Yes, the source material is somewhat biased, but I had no idea all of the different racial laws he signed into being during his time in the White House. He also took the office as the result of an assassination, was in the middle of a terrible war, and a time of social unrest. Despite those challenges he managed to get some good things done and most impressively decided not to run for a second term so he could focus on trying to get out of Vietnam.
Signing of the Voters Rights ActI didn’t realize how long he was in public serviceHe was a plain spoken guy and I really liked that. All of his different legislationThe red p;honeA moon rock!!The original Remington bronc rider so coolReagan had presidential cowboy boots like thisSamurai swords
One of the coolest things was a complete recreation of the oval office as it was at his time. He had a very interesting old fashion chair in the room and he had a coffee table made with a phone in it which was super cool. By all accounts he spent as much time at his ranch as he could but I always like these recreations to see what presidents chose to display. Since they have access to most of the national treasures I think it says a lot about their character.
Obviously he wasn’t all great. He could be condescending and since he was tall he often towered over people, leaning forward to physically intimidate them. Many of his campaign contributors and friends benefited from the Vietnam War but it was never proven that he personally did. I also got the impression that he didn’t really want to be the President, but for someone who was thrown into the job under the worst set of circumstances, he worked hard at it by all accounts.
Yikes
The building itself has a ton of documentation and the inside was beautifully constructed. I particularly liked two of the walls that had the presidential pictures of every president and First Lady. I had never seen them all displayed together like that and it was interesting starting with George and Martha and walking to the end. Barack, Michelle, Donald, and Melania were not displayed because their official portraits have not been released yet. I guess this process can take several years.
Beautiful
One of my favorite sections was a very good animatronic of LBJ surrounded by political cartoons. He had quite the sense of humor and although his jokes were definitely folksy they were part of his charm.
As always this presidential library was absolutely worth the visit and more than worth the money. Getting to know these historical figures and seeing their artifacts (especially those related to the First Ladies) is always a pleasure.
Loved this picture of the first ladies.
Supporting our Blog
We very much appreciate your support of our blog.
You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperbackversion on Amazonor buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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