Fredericksburg Texas, October 2019

Well here it is almost Thanksgiving so I guess I should get busy on October's post so I can be late on November's. We visited the LBJ State Park and Historic Site. It is located about 20 miles from Fredericksburg. It is located on The LBJ ranch. We were able to see the one room school house that President Johnson attended and other sites from his childhood.

We stopped and saw the family cemetery which is located by the family home where he grew up.

This is a picture of his and Lady Bird's grave site. The picture is from one at the site. I tried taking one but due to trees in the way I used theirs. I guess I could of jumped the fence but who knows who was watching.

This is the original family homestead Which is a short walk from the cemetery. After he was elected President he had it refurbished and it was used for visiting dignitaries.

This is Air Force One-Half. There wasn't room to land Air Force One at the ranch so he would land in San Antonio and take the smaller plane to the ranch. The interior wasn't very fancy and there wasn't a lot of head room. You are able to get inside a little ways and there is no way I could stand up straight and President Johnson was taller then me.

This is a model of the house. The house is in need of major repairs so there are no tours now; plus there's a large branch from an oak tree setting on part of the house. There is a nice museum and there is a lot of information but it is not overwhelming as in some museums.

Well October brings Oktoberfest and they do love their Oktoberfest here in Fredericksburg. There was entertainment, food, and beer. Lots and lots of beer.

The following weekend was Brat Fest. For $10 you got a meal of different sausages, German potato salad, sauerkraut, apple sauce and a cookie. You could go thru the line as many times as you wanted. In a different area they had a table set up with many different samples to try. Of course there was a beer tent and entertainment. Did I mention that they really like their beer down here.

There is the National Museum of the Pacific War here in Fredericksburg. It's only about the war with Japan. It starts out with the events leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and goes thru to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. On the right is a mini sub that was recovered at Pearl Harbor. It was loaded on a truck and displayed all around the U.S. to help sell war bonds. It finally found a home here at the museum. There are other large displays such as the plane below.

There are also displays of artillery and vehicles for the Pacific Theater. There is a lot of information presented here. If you like to read
and learn about things you will find a lot of interesting information from that turbulent time in our history.

These are the Sullivan brothers. They all served on the same light cruiser. They all died when their ship was sunk in 1942 during the war. There were other brothers that served on the same ships or units that were killed during the war. This prompted changes about family members serving in the same units and the sole survivor act.

This is "The Jeep". I know this because the information board said so. It's right there in the lower left corner.

This one of two atomic bomb that brought a sudden end to the war with Japan. It was called "Little Boy". It was dropped on the city of Hiroshima by the bomber  named the Enola Gay. The amount of damage and loss of life it caused along  with the the second atomic bomb dropped on the city of Nagasaki named "Fat Boy" three days later ended the war with Japans surrender.

Here is the famous Tokyo Rose. She was one of many females that broadcast on radio from Japan to demoralize the American fighting men & women. They called all female broadcasters Tokyo Rose.

This is the type of plane that President George   HW Bush flew during WW II.

They also have an actual PT boat in it's own building due to its size. It had to be completely restored  and the building put up around it.

The best part of Museum was a young man I noticed that was always in the the same area that we were. He seemed to be watching me and it sort of peaked my curiosity. After a while he approached me, stood in front of me at attention. looked me square in the eye and said "Excuse me sir" snapped a salute and said "Thank you for your service". I was wearing my U.S. Coast Guard cap at the time. I have had  a lot of people thank me for my service but this young man brought a tear to my eye. He did an about face and left and I didn't see him again that day. Thank you young man. Thank you from all Coasties.

There is also a "Combat Zone" on the property where they have a battle reinactment between the Japanese and American troops. It is very loud and smokey.

Before all of the noise starts they explain a lot of things and demonstrate some of the weapons and fired  them. They do give you ear plugs and recommend that you use them. This is a demonstration of all of the equipment that a new recruit is issued and how much it all weighs. This fellow was 6 feet tall and weighed 180 when they started (not really).  If you ever get in the Fredericksburg area this is worth the trip.

WE took a short trip to Wildseed Farms which is just out side of Fredericksburg. It 's the largest working wild flower farm in the U.S. We went  to watch them release Monarch Butterflies that were raised there. They tag then and track their migration habits. It was quite cool that day the the butterflies were not n a big hurry to leave

Well that's it for now. Time to sit back and enjoy the flowers and go exploring to other exciting places. See everyone next month. Stay warm and keep those snow shovels close by.

Fredericksburg, Texas September 2019

Howdy, and welcome back. As some of you may know, we spent the last three summers in Michigan and the blog sort of got forgotten. Last winter we were in Louisiana and due to the issue of Holly having rotater cuff surgery and me not feeling well it was forgotten again. But we are back and healthy and on the road again. This winter we are in Fredericksburg, Texas at the Oakwood RV Resort. We took our time this year and took some well earned travel time. We were able to see some new places and visit old friends and we didn't have to rush. Our first stop was at Brown County State Park in Indiana. As you can see, we sat outside and had a nice dinner. Brutus was hoping to join in on the potato salad and bratwurst. 

Our next night was at a Corp of Engineer Park on Nolan Lake in Kentucky. We have found that the Corp parks are great. They are on a lake or river, have water and electric hook ups and are very inexpensive; even more so if you have a senior pass, then they are half price. As you can see in these two pictures we had a nice site overlooking the lake. That little fur ball in the far corner of the patio is Ruby. She was on squirrel guard duty.

We stayed there for a couple of days so we could go to Mammoth Cave. It was about a 30 minute drive thru the rural country side and small towns. We arrived just in time to get on the next tour. Our tour guide had the usual talk and also made sure we knew what we were getting into. The tour we took was a two mile hike, with ups and downs, uneven surfaces and a very tall stair way at the end. There was also a section that had a very narrow path and very low ceiling. I had to walk almost bent over double then it got even lower.

This is the entrance, a nice little climb and even nicer when you came out and this wasn't the stairs he talked about in his presentation. It was also a hot humid day but it was kind of pleasant in the cave. Yup, that's Holly descending in to the darkness of the cave.Unlike some of the caves we have toured this is not what they call a living cave. There were no  stalagmites or stalactite on the tour we were on, no beautiful rock formations. It was a two mile walk thru a cave that used to be an under ground river.

The lighting is very subdued and I really didn't get very good pictures. To tell the  truth I was too busy watching where I was stepping so I wouldn't fall on my face. Our guide did say that if anything serious happened and they had to get you out it could take three to four hours to get you back to the surface and then a long trip to a hospital. I really didn't want to be that guy. With all of the people taking picture with their cell phones I would have been all over the internet.

This is the stairs he was talking about to get back to the entrance. I know it isn't a very good picture but remember, I didn't want to be "that guy." The picture below is the entrance from the inside so I guess from this point of view it's the exit. No matter what you call it we still had to climb all those steps to get out and then a long climb up a hill back to the visitor center. They have several different tours, ours just happened to be the one that told about the history of the cave and was two miles long.

Our next stop was at a Corp park in Arkansas where our friends Bill and Penny were staying. We were going to take the Natchez Trace to Jackson Mississippi ( I like typing Mississippi, try it some time) before heading west but the weather was so hot and humid and last year when we took it we were miserable due to the fact the camp grounds on the trace have no hook ups so no air conditioning (deep breath).

Well we finally arrived, a couple of days to set up and train and it's back to the daily grind of two half days a week. I know, but someone has to do it.

We have taken a little trip to Luckenbach, but we didn't see Willy or Waylon or the boys. We did hear some live music. Holly thought she would try and make some money at the kissing booth but business was a little slow so we just went and listened to the band and had a couple of beers. Good thing I brought some money.

That's it for now. my little friend says it's time to go. Hope you all enjoyed this and we will see you all next month.