Texas Trip, Day Eight

Wednesday, April 15:

We were up at 7 a.m., and had a breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, and jelly. Once we were ready for the day, we went to Lukenbach, Texas, made famous in the Waylon Jennings song. The town (Pop. 25) consists of a combination general store and saloon (once a Post Office), and a dance hall, on 9.142 acres.

Not much is happening in Lukenbach, but it's a good place to take pictures....of a rooster that struts around as if he owns the place, and two bearded dudes in western regalia, who clerk in the store and the saloon.

Not many folks were visiting while we were there...just a couple of motorcycle guys, one of whom offered to take a picture of the three of us on the porch of the store/saloon. The only thing I bought in the store was a leather keychain in the shape of Texas, with the Lukenbach logo on it to use as a Christmas tree ornament.

On the way to "Downtown Luckenbach," we stopped by "Uptown Luckenbach," which is a flea market. No one was in the store, but there was a sign telling customers to choose what they wanted and leave the price of the item in a jar. We didn't buy anything, but we did pick up burr oak acorns (also called mossycups) from a box with a sign saying "free, take as many as you want." These are acorns resting in little pods that look like woven nests. I'll use them in a display of natural materials at Christmas time.

Then we went back to camp for a lunch of deli turkey sandwiches. After lunch, we went to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, where we took a driving/walking tour of Johnson's birthplace home, his grandparent's home, the President's first school, and the Johnson family cemetery, where the President is buried, as well as a place called the White House, which is still being renovated. This is where the President and Mrs. Johnson entertained the dignitaries who visited the ranch. It is located along the Pedernales River. Around 700 of the over 1500 acres of the ranch belong to the federal government, as donated by the Johnson family.

This is a working ranch, with some cattle and sheep roaming the grounds freely. It's advisable for visitors to keep to the designated paths, because the yards where the animals graze are littered with sheep droppings or cow patties. Chickens and a turkey are in a fenced area. The animals that roam the grounds ignore visitors, even if they walk up to them to take snapshots.

We spent about three hours at the ranch, including about 15 minutes at the visitor's center, where a video played continuously. It featured one of the Johnson daughters talking about a dog that joined the family. This daughter found the dog abandoned at a gas station. The station owner said a family stopped by, and when they left, they failed to take the dog with them (or it jumped out of the car and the family was unaware until too late that the dog wasn't with them).

Anyway, the dog, dirty at the time the daughter found him, was white. She already had a dog named blanco (Spanish for white), but didn't know what to call this dog. The station owner suggested Yu-Gi (which the station owner said is Japanese for white).

Yu-Gi was destructive, so Lady Byrd Johnson didn't want him in her home. Eventually, though, the daughter gave the dog to the President, who was very stressed in the turbulent times of the 1960s, and who found solace in the lovable little dog.

The visitor's center also included a glassed room containing several of Johnson's collection of cars, now antiques.

On the way back to camp, we stopped at a Wal Mart store to pick up microwave potatoes. While Hubbie was in the store, I called Friend (at her request) to see if we could visit on Thursday. She was still too sick, she said.

While we had a very good time in Fredricksburg, our main reason for being there was to visit with Friend. Then to find out we couldn't, after traveling all those miles, was very frustrating. We would have been willing to visit today, but were told that Friend and husband were obliged to attend the funeral of an elderly uncle of the husband in the morning. And afterward, she knew she'd be too exhausted to see us.

She has multiple problems, including rhumatoid arthritis and horrible allergies (due to oak pollen). Today, she was in bed when I called, and sounded very hoarse and miserable. She said she'd been upchucking. I guess her energy level is so low that she has to save it for only the most important things, and we were way down on the list. Thank goodness, she has finally made an appointment to see her doctor, after resisting it for so long.

Hubbie had already registered us for an extra night at camp for Thursday. When we got back to camp, he hurried to the registration office to see if he could cancel it, so we could leave for home Thursday morning. He lucked out, because the staff had not yet entered the information in the computer, so they cancelled it.

After a supper of hamburgers/turkey burgers with cheese, microwave potatoes, and cream corn, Mother and I went to the campground laundry to wash a dry a couple of loads. We were there until about 8:30 p.m. News on the TV predicted nasty storms for Thursday afternoon, which made me anxious to be on the road and out of the area before the storms hit.