Farewell

We got up early (vacation early) and started back north.  Our first stop was at the famous King Ranch, which has almost a million acres in Texas.

Over the course of 150 years, King Ranch has led some of the first cattle drives, developed the Santa Gertrudis and Santa Cruz breeds of cattle, bred the finest quarter horses, and produced champion thoroughbreds.  Today’s King Ranch has diversified into a major agribusiness with interests in cattle ranching and feedlot operations, farming (citrus, cotton, grain, sugar cane, and turfgrass), pecan processing and sales, commodity marketing and processing, luxury retail goods, and recreational hunting.


It was a long drive back up to Dallas, but we got to see a lot of ranch country on the way.  Texas speed limits are in general about 10 MPH faster than on similar roads back home.  We pulled into cousin Sarah's place at about 8:PM and she made us an excellent stir fry supper.  We enjoyed our visit and slept in the next morning.  Next stop was the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. The yards once covered 203 acres and had large packing plants built on the edges.

At the height of World War I in 1917, the Fort Worth Stockyards was the largest horse and mule market in the world.  During World War II, the Fort Worth Stockyards processed 5,277,496 head of livestock making 1944 the peak year of the entire operation.

No longer in operation as a stockyards, the area now houses historical buildings, museums, restaurants, shops, hotels, honky-tonks, western wear stores, rodeos, horse boarding, and the resident longhorn herd.  We had a late lunch of mesquite grilled beef fillet at Risky's Steakhouse which was excellent.

Earlier in the week, we had found out that Bonnie and Clyde were from the outskirts of Dallas.  It sparked my interest, so I did some internet research about them and found out that they were buried (in separate cemeteries) in Dallas.  We had some time on this, our last day in Texas, so we looked them up.  We found Bonnie's grave easily, and found the small cemetery where Clyde is buried.  It was fenced in with a "No Trespassing" sign, so we couldn't pay him our last respects.

The next morning we turned in our rental car, boarded our plane to Peoria and said farewell to Texas. 

But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.
Acts 18:21

As I walked down . . .

. . . the streets of Laredo, I didn't see a cowpuncher all dressed in white linen.  I did see lots of Tejanos milling about dressed like other Texans.  We didn't stay around very long, but we did walk around a little in the historic downtown area and along the Rio Grande.  Next stop was Zapata where we intended to eat lunch with Uncle Russell, but due to illness he had headed back to Iowa.  We did stop and check out the church there, and took a couple of pictures.

We crossed the bridge and causeway onto South Padre Island late afternoon.  We checked into The Palms Resort, a small, quaint, older hotel that is right on the beach.  As it had a kitchenette, we then stocked up at on groceries at W.E.B. for a week of relaxation.
We walked the beach at least twice daily, and since the temperature has been cooler than normal, one of the first things I did was go sweatshirt shopping.  It was used almost every morning.  I think that the most concentrated sun that I got, was sitting on the balcony of the Plattners' condo visiting with Lloyd and Martha (who were also spending some time on the Island).  At the north end of the island, the main (and only at that point) road dead ends in sand dunes.  The road often gets drifted over with blowing sand, which reminded us of the snow drifts we were missing back home.  Twice we parked at the end and wandered about in the dunes, and then walked the more remote beach shelling.

Overall we had a week of beautiful weather.  Not as warm as we would have liked, but a nice week anyway.  I slept in most mornings, ate breakfast in the room, walked the beach, lunch in the room, nap, walked the beach, then out to eat at a different restaurant each night. We enjoyed a lot of good seafood.  We were late to church in McAllen on Sunday because neither the driver or navigator were paying attention and we got on the wrong road twice.  The worship and fellowship were a blessing and there were other visitors there besides us.  We spent part of Monday with another couple (that we met in church) who we discovered were staying at The Palms also.  Several mornings were a little foggy, but the days were usually sunny and warm (70's at the beach, 80's inland).

Our last full day in south Texas was spent with cousins Kay and Larry.  After brunch, we went to a bird sanctuary and were introduced to Green Jays, which can only be found (in the U.S.) in south Texas.  In Brownsville we saw the shipyards, and the controversial border fence.  We drove through some of the local agricultural areas and then had supper at the Ice House, where I enjoyed some good Texas BBQ.  Larry, being an amateur astronomer, rushed us outside after we ate and we witnessed our first (that we are aware of) Iridium Flare.  They also gave us a tour of the RV park they winter in just in case we ever become RV snowbirds after we retire.

They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.
Deuteronomy 33:19

Remember

We left Bastrop and headed into the "Hill Country" of Texas.  Now we start seeing more working ranches, Texas towns, and feed stores.  Our first stop was along the Pedernales River at LBJ's ranch for a driving tour.  His ranch is now a National Historic Park, but it is also still a working ranch.  We saw the one room schoolhouse he attended, his birthplace, the family cemetery where he and Lady Bird are buried, the show barn where his registered cattle were groomed and sold, and finally the "Texas White House."  During Johnson's five year presidency, he spent close to 500 days at his ranch.  He was a pilot and owned a plane, so as his positions of importance grew, so did the size of the private airstrip at his ranch.  The 6300 foot paved runway wasn't big enough for Air Force One, but smaller jets (including Air Force 1/2) could land there.  During the busiest days as President, (ferrying family, politicians, reporters, and secret service agents,) as many as 50 planes would land and take off on the ranch strip per day.
The house itself started as a small ranch house that the Johnson's added on to numerous times until it became a sprawling stone and wood 28 room home with 8 bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and a commercial kitchen for entertaining.

 



 After we left the LBJ ranch, we headed west through hill country to visit Fredericksburg, a culturally German town settled by German immigrants in the 1840's.  It almost looked out of place in Texas ranch country.  We had a very German lunch at a local restaurant before continuing on our way.
As we were heading south on a winding two lane road we came across a sign pointing to the infamous and historic Luckenbach, Texas.  The town consists mainly of a post office/general store, a saloon, and a dance hall.  The town was made famous by Waylon Jennings' 1977 hit outlaw country song by the same name.  Now, they host picking circles, cowboy dances, and country music concerts there every weekend.  It takes about seven minutes to see it all, two more if you take pictures, and again we were on our way.

It was still cold and cloudy when we pulled into San Antonio.  First stop was at the Alamo to learn the history of this famous mission that played an important role in the independence of Texas from Mexico.  We also visited Mission San Jose and learned a lot about mission life and the purposes of the mission system that the Spanish set up in the southwest.  The two main purposes (simplified) were to make new taxpaying citizens to support the Spanish empire and to convert the natives to Catholicism.

  The River Walk in downtown San Antonio is a system of paths along the San Antonio River and landscaped canals below street level lined with shops, hotels, and restaurants that is a public park.  Originally planned for flood control, now it is a major and unique tourist attraction.  It was indeed beautiful, and would be a very romantic spot if it would not have been 35 degrees and drizzling while we walked it.  The food at the County Line BBQ was excellent.

We have many relatives and friends who during World War II, the Korean War, and the Viet Nam War passed through Fort Sam Houston as part of their training.  We hear about their Fort Sam reunions regularly.  So since we were in San Antonio, we decided to check it out.  It was cold and dreary when we stopped, so we decided not to get the permit required to tour the base, but we did drive through the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.  It encompasses 155 acres and has over 120,000 internments, including POW's from WWII.  It is always a sobering sight to see the rows and rows, acres and acres of the tombstones in a military cemetery. 

 



In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
Judges 5:6

Presidential

We landed in Dallas to a temperature of 29 degrees with snow on the ground.  We were a day late after flights were cancelled because of the snow at DWF.  We went south to escape the bitter cold and snow of the Midwest, but they have been having an unusually cold winter here also. 
We toured the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza, walked up the "grassy knoll", and stood on the X in the middle of the road where President Kennedy received his head shot as the motorcade passed through the Plaza.

From there we visited Pioneer Plaza and the impressive "Cattle Drive" sculpture.  On to SMU to the new George W. Bush (43) Presidential Library.  It was very informative and inspirational.  We found cousin Phyllis' house and spent a relaxing evening and comfortable night with her.

After breakfast, we left Phyllis and headed to Waco to pay homage at the Dr. Pepper museum.  After our tour and free samples, we headed to College Station, home of Texas A & M University and the site of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library.  It was another impressive museum.  Once again we hit the road and headed for Bastrop for the weekend.

We enjoyed the fellowship of  the Bastrop church Sunday, but unfortunately we missed some of our friends who were gone for the weekend. It was a blessed day and we made some new friends. It was good to see D#2's former roommate Katy K. who is working in Dripping Springs.  She led a group of us visitors to a good Mexican Restaurant for supper in the evening.
Between church and supper, we drove into Austin to visit the LBJ Presidential Library.  When LBJ was president, I was still in grade school, so my memory of his presidency is sketchy.  But I learned a lot and my memory was refreshed on what all was happening then.

All in all, our visits to the presidential libraries were filled with a lot of history, politics, and patriotism.  We gained a little more insight into their backgrounds and how that affected  the decisions they made.  There were a lot of interactive displays, collections of photos and papers, historic videos, and gifts of state.  All three libraries also had displays of memorabilia, music, and videos of the culture at the time which brought back lots of memories.  It has inspired me to read more presidential biographies and visit other libraries on future travels.

Up to this point, we haven't noticed a great cultural difference here in Texas.  But, we haven't strayed too far from the big cities yet.

And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
I Samual 8:5

Piles

It's never a good sign when you step into the hog house on Sunday morning to do chores and you hear water spraying and water is running down the hallway.  Fortunately, it was a quick fix and I got everything back in order without much of a problem.
The drive to church was beautiful, with a six inch blanket of fresh snow covering everything and the sun shining bright.  It was a blessed day in church and we enjoyed an evening of good fellowship as we hosted potluck.

Another 3-5 inches of snow on Tuesday night into Wednesday is starting to make for big piles where we need to clear it.  Fortunately the wind wasn't too strong so the drifts were manageable.  I had to move some snow early this morning so I could get out to load a trailer of hogs at the neighbor's farm.  The hogs loaded fairly easy today, so it went quickly.  I chose to miss the Pork Expo today at the Civic Center because I needed to grind a truck load of feed and didn't want to get behind with the bitter cold weather returning.

Our favorite granddaughter got to sled down one of our snow mountains Saturday night when we babysat for her.

Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
Mark 5:11