Back to Junction, Texas

Four years ago we visited the South Llano River State Park just south of the small town of Junction.  It made a strong impression on both of us so we decided it would be a fitting location to visit again and to continue our journey next December.

The Llano River flowing through the park is still just as clear and pristine as we remembered it!  There are great hiking trails into the Pecan trees and cactus.

There are still a few remnants of the ranch that used to be here.  This windmill still pumps water for the wildlife now that the cattle are gone.

There are four bird blinds in the park in which you can sit in to observe the birds as they come to the feed stations, and to the solar-powered water fountains.

This is one of our favorite parks!

More tomorrow.

We Stay in Fredericksburg, Texas at a Municipal RV Park

After our interesting visit at the LBJ Ranch there was not many hours left in the day so we cruised into Fredericksburg to find a place to park.

Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park was rated well so we picked a RV site and settled in for a couple of days.  We may have stayed a bit longer but they surprised us when they said, "Cash Only"!  The park had tennis courts, a golf course, and a large swimming pool.

On our second day we got a group of neighbors who moved in and set up to put on a birthday party at the park pavilion for their 80-year-old mother.  Here is their B-B-Q rig they parked right behind our travel trailer.

They soon had their cookers going.  Note the fire in the wheelbarrow on the right where they got the Mesquite wood burning before they put it in the grills on the trailer.  We moved out before the party to give them more room to work and park their vehicles.

  I think we missed a good meal as it sure smelled good!

The LBJ State Park and Historic Site

About 14 miles west of Johnson City, Texas near the small settlement of Stonewall is the 

The LBJ State Park and Historic Site.  

It contains many properties associated with President Lyndon Johnson's life, including what was once the "Texas White House".

At the Historic Site a visitor must obtain a tour route and a driving permit from the State of Texas to do a self-guiding tour of the ranch.  The properties are actually run by the National Park Service.

Here is the one-room school that LBJ attended.  Bill noticed that is was smaller than the Newton Woods School that he went to for two years near Volinia, Michigan.

Here is the Johnson Family Cemetery.  LBJ and Lady Bird are under the larger grave stones.

It was a beautiful small grave yard.

The land is still an actual working ranch and these are descendants of LBJ's cattle.  The drive takes you right through the pastures.  Notice the brand and number on the horns.

(We had to bribe him to pose for us, and that is no bull!)

Here is the Johnson Ranch House, (or Texas White House at the time).  We paid for a guided tour of the house but could take no pictures inside.  LBJ died here.  Lady Bird donated the ranch to the State of Texas.

There was a barn full of LBJ cars.  The back seat of this ranch convertible had a wet bar and a rack for two rifles.....

and this was the corvette that he bought for his daughter, Lucy, on her 18th birthday.

(nice Dad!)

And finally Karen is about to board Air Force one for her trip back to snowy Michigan.

(Just kidding)

This is President LBJ Country

On our way to our next campground in Fredericksburg, we decided to stop in Johnson City, Texas to see where LBJ grew up.  LBJ was born about 12 miles west of Johnson City but his family moved to this house when he was five years old and he grew up here in this small town.

We got a guided tour of the house.  Here is the kitchen.  We learned that LBJ was born in 1908 from two educated parents who taught their children to debate at the supper table and front porch. His father was a state legislator, and LBJ often rode through the countryside with him as he campaigned for his many elections.

The house has been renovated and restored to appears as it did in the early 1900's.  It is a beautiful setting on a very large corner lot.

After Johnson City we drove out to his ranch which is now a state park.

More on that tomorrow...........

The Inks Lake Area in the Hill Country of Texas

We had read that the Hill Country was scenic, but this part of Texas turned out to be better than we expected.

The rock formations are stunning to behold and to hike into.  (Note:  No active snakes this time of year)! 

The vegetation along the lake is as green and lush as Michigan in May.

No Morel Mushrooms, however.

These rocks are Gneiss Rocks (pronounced "nice") and are more than 1 billion years old.  Yes with a "B".  Most rocks in Texas are types of limestone and nowhere near that old, so this is a very unique area.

 This quiet cove in the lake is called the "Devil's Waterhole", and is a great place to swim in the summer.  Swimmers can jump off the ledges you see into the clear water.  Bill was jealous.

It is difficult, this time of year, to leave a quiet campsite, like this, where the view from your back window is this above!

Nevertheless, we must move on.......

A Road Trip to the Old Texas Town of Llano

On Wednesday we drove west down scenic Texas State Road 29 past the huge Buchanan Dam on the Colorado River (not the same as the Grand Canyon Colorado River) to the Old Texas Town of Llano (pronounced Lay-no).

Here is the Llano County Courthouse.  We thought it was a beautiful and grand old building when we walked around the small town.

This is a snapshot of the Llano River that flows through the town looking southwest from the main bridge.  The river is quite clear and clean.

Along the river many different varieties of Granite are mined.  Here on display are five different types of granite found nearby.  There is at least one factory in Llano making counter tops, tomb stones, and monuments.

We Take a Side Trip To Another Texas Park Nearby

The weather here near Burnet, Texas was cool and windy on Tuesday, so we drove about 10 miles south to visit this State Park above.

For $15 each, a visitor could take a 1-1/2 hour guided tour of the Longhorn Cavern.  We signed up. 

 During the Civil War Confederate soldiers collected bat droppings in the cave to make gun powder.

Our group was small with only one other couple from Austin, plus our 74-year-old tour guide (with the flashlight).

He said an earlier group had 17 people including a couple from Russia.  Our guide was a retired school teacher and led the tours only one day a week.

This section of the cave was all crystals in the walls and beautiful to see.  We had about a 1-1/4 mile walk underground.

Here Karen studies what the guide said was a "natural formation" and not a carved statue.  He said they called it the cave's "Rockweiler"!

Longhorn Cavern was a very interesting stop here in the Hill Country, smack-dab in the middle of Texas!

Into The Texas Hill Country

On Monday we left College Station and drove farther west on back roads to Inks Lake State Park which is near the town of Burnet, about an hour northwest of the state capital of Austin.

It is a very large state park that hugs Inks Lake.  If you count the tent sites and cabins, as well as the RV sites, there are 280 sites in all.  We had our pick from about fifty beautiful places to park our travel trailer, as these parks are not very busy this time of year except on weekends.

There are twenty of these tiny cabins for rent that only have two sets of bunk beds inside.  They are air conditioned, however, and beat sleeping in a tent if it rains.

Inks Lake is another huge reservoir where fishing is popular. These signs are on display that show the fish normally caught, the required length to keep them, and supplies a ruler to measure the fish.

It makes the rules plain and simple for visitors who do not fish very much.

More on this excellent part of Texas to come......... 

The National Parks Photography Project

2016 is the Centennial Anniversary of America's National Park Service.  At the George Bush Presidential Library, The National Parks Photography Project was on display.

The core of the exhibit is a black-and-white photo from each of the 59 national parks taken by Mark Burns. (Not Ken Burns who does documentaries).  The iconic photos were taken between 2011 and 2015.  We enjoyed every one.

This old poster was on display that explained to the public what the National Park System was all about back when it started.

This was a display of old cameras used over the years to photograph the National Parks.

The display is at Texas A&M University until March 21st.  It may be coming to a city near you.

We Visit the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas

The George Bush Presidential Library is on the campus of Texas A & M University.  We visited it on Sunday during a rare Texas rain.

Here is the 1946 Studebaker that the Bush family drove to Texas where George Sr. got into the oil business.  His firm helped develop some of the first drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Here is a replica of the Bush office at Camp David.

This is an actual piece of the Berlin Wall that came down during the Bush 41 Presidency.

And finally.......

Here are George and Barbara in the Oval Office before they went back into the private sector.

<------->

(They were a good-looking couple, indeed!)

Out of the National Forest and Into Aggieland

On Saturday morning, February 20, we drove almost straight west on secondary roads to reach the twin towns of Bryan and College Station, Texas.  These towns are the home of Texas A & M University. 

 The A stands for Agriculture and the M for Mechanical. We are staying at the Aggieland RV Park near Bryan.

The city of Bryan has an old historic downtown district so after lunch we drove there to explore a few unique shops.

We liked this winged horse but not the $2800 price tag.

Their old Carnegie Public Library has been well preserved.
We go to another, more famous, library tomorrow.

Cagle Recreation Campground

As soon as we got settled in our campsite, the Camp Host brought over this split firewood and gave it to us at no charge.  He said, "Hey we have plenty so tell me if you need more."

It burned hot. 

 You don't get that kind of service in most campgrounds!

Lake Conroe is 32-square-miles in area which is quite large even by Texas standards.  The boat launch here is busy every day with fishermen with high-powered boats.

We have a two mile narrow asphalt path that makes for an excellent walk and/or bike ride along the lake.

The weather for the last four or five days has been sunny and warm with temperatures in the upper 70s.  Today and tomorrow we are expecting to see 80 degrees.  These wildflowers are in bloom along the path.