DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS....Y'ALL

Three weeks after returning from our big India, Dubai, etc., adventure, we headed off to southern Texas. We had this trip planned around a Giants/Astros game in Houston quite awhile before our overseas trip.

We flew into Austin, picked up our rental car & headed west to Lyndon B. Johnson's boyhood home & "Texas White House".

Lyndon Johnson's boyhood home is located in Johnson City 14 miles from his ranch. Previous generations of his family were prominent in the area - hence the name Johnson City.

The tour of his ranch house which was handed down from his parents & grandparents was great. No photos were allowed inside the home & the exterior was obscured by trees. Lady Bird Johnson lived here until her health began failing. She lived part time in Austin & part time at the Texas White House until her death in 2007. LBJ's bedroom had crayon drawings from his grandchildren on the walls - my kinda guy.

On our way to Fort Stockton we were treated to a gorgeous sunset. I took this photo through the windshield while Lou headed east on Interstate 10.

Texas is a big ass state! We cut three days off our trip but still drove 337 miles to FortStockton the first day on our way to Big Bend National Park. The next day we traveled another 100 miles to the park, which by the way, is in the middle of nowhere. It has some beautiful scenery but it is 300-400 miles from any major city in Texas.

The scenery & mountains in this national park that borders Mexico are stunning. The only place to stay within the park is the Chisos Mountain Lodge. When we checked in around 5 PM, we were informed that the power was out in the entire area. There is only one restaurant which had a limited menu. We decided to take our showers immediately before any hot water ran out & it got really dark. Our cell phone flashlights were our only source of light. Fortunately, as we waited for our table at the restaurant the power came back on to cheers & yells around 7 PM.

We had a great day driving all around this remote national park. It is one of the least visited, probably because it is not easy to get to from anywhere.

The clouds & varied scenery in the park included deserts, mountains & some rather unique formations.

The desk clerk told us they were famous for amazing sunsets.This is the Window Trail near the lodge which was wheelchair accessible. The sunset definitely didn't disappoint!

This turkey vulture had lunch with us one day.

I have no idea what this flower is but it fascinated me & I loved it.

From Big Bend we headed east back to San Antonio. Of the bigger Texas cities I've visited (all but Dallas so far), San Antonio is my favorite. I love the Riverwalk & it's myriad of restaurants.

The San Antonio Riverwalk is such an eclectic place. My guess is that you can eat at a different restaurant every day for a year. They offer a 30 minute cruise on the river with narration.

We ate at Casa Rio, the oldest restaurant on the river, in San Antonio. The food was good & we were seated right on the river. I was in San Antonio about 25 years ago & loved the area. 

As night fell we took the river cruise then walked along the bridges which overlooked the Riverwalk area.

Since the Alamo was closed in the evening, this photo doesn't show the crowds that line up every day to tour the sparse interior of this national treasure. Our Menger Hotel was literally across the street from the Alamo.

This is a modern monument to the bravery of the men who fought & died at this place. I was fascinated with the story that Jim Bowie drew a line in the dirt with his sword telling the men who wanted to stay & fight to cross it with him. Everyone, including a man on a stretcher who was carried across, made their choice. One man, Moses Rose, basically said "Fuck this!" & escaped sure death when he ran the other way.

This is the lobby of our old section of the Menger Hotel. It is a beautiful place that I highly recommend. Legend says it is haunted but, alas, we didn't see or hear any ghosts.

The local horse & carriages have learned that if they make it look like Cinderella's couch, the kids will insist their parents take them for a ride. Those who know me can rest assured that the horses are well cared for & given regular water - I made sure. This is Lou's photo, mine weren't nearly this good.

The Tower of the Americas from the World Expo in 1968. We took the elevator to the top.

The downtown view from the Tower of the Americas.

San Antonio has an historic park commemorating five missions in the immediate area. This is the most beautiful one, Mission San Jose.

The chapel & convent of the Mission San Jose.

Austin, the capitol of Texas, was our next stop followed by a visit to the LBJ Presidential Library near the University of Texas campus. Just a quick thought, why is it that if you are in Texas for one day you start picking up the southern accent?

The Texas State Capitol. We ran into our first bad weather here in Austin. Getting from our car to the capitol we got pretty well drenched but we made it. I'm still trying to figure out why they used a stone that made the capitol building brown. That is just not really attractive.

Part of the LBJ Library book collection.

This is Lady Bird Johnson's office that she used until just prior to her death. The more I hear about this lady the more I like her. I didn't know much about her as First Lady but she sounds like quite a gal. I never realized that LBJ wanted all his family to have the same LBJ initials.....Lady Bird Johnson, Lynda Bird Johnson & Luci Baines Johnson.

There is a park in Austin called the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Apparently Mrs. Johnson loved wildflowers & wanted to preserve them.

The Austin skyline.

Stevie Ray Vaughn statue, one of Texas's finest musicians. He was born in Dallas but I guess somewhere along the line he adopted Austin & its music scene.

The last leg of our week long trip took us to Houston for the baseball game. It was here that we ran into some unbelievable weather. After checking out a Frank Lloyd Wright designed home in an affluent neighborhood, we stopped at a park for lunch. It was overcast but not at all threatening.

Halfway through our sandwiches, the skies opened up. We grabbed everything & ran to our car (well, Lou ran, I hobbled). Within minutes the wind picked up & it was pouring rain. That was followed by marble sized hail that was bouncing off our rental car! Fortunately, there was no damage.

Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston. Our Giants lost 11-2...yikes! On the way home the freeway was totally closed. We were directly off the highway & were basically on our own....no signs, no help, just figure it out. Eventually, we did & made it back. The same thing happened to me 25 years ago....freeways are just closed completely.

The San Jacinto Monument commenerating the battle of the same name.

The battleship Texas as seen from the top of the San Jacinto Monument. Lou toured it before our flight back home. My hip decided it would rather sit in the car & read.