Learning all the ABCs of LBJ

We have driven through Johnson City many times on our way to and from South Texas. But today we have decided to stop and spend the day learning all about LBJ. This is the home town of Lyndon Baines Johnson, our country's 36th president. Johnson City hosts one state park and two national historic park locations filled with information about their favorite son.  Spring is a great time to see these locations, because the bluebonnets were at their prime while we were visiting.

We left the motor home parked at the national park location in town, and then drove the car 14 miles west to get to the second part of the park. It is here that baby Lyndon was born in 1908.

This is a "dog trot" house, with an open section in the middle that allows the summer breezes to blow through for some natural air-conditioning. We can confirm that these pioneers knew what they were doing, as that shaded section was more comfortable on this warm afternoon.

Just down the road is the "Texas White House" where President and Mrs. Johnson spent any free time they had during his presidency. This is also where they retired, and where LBJ died. They added on to the original rock house without regard to proper engineering. For that reason it is no longer open for tours inside because of safety issues.

President Johnson hosted world leaders and dignitaries at the ranch, and he often brought his work home with him. The large oak in the back yard was called the "cabinet tree" because he often held cabinet meetings outside on the lawn.

The grass airstrip on the ranch wasn't big enough to land Air Force One. So the larger plane landed in San Antonio, and then this smaller version took the president to the ranch. Named "Air Force One-Half," it is on display at the national park.

Also on display is the iconic white convertible Lincoln with tan leather interior. LBJ ordered a new identical car every year.

But his favorite automobile was this little blue car. He loved taking visitors for a drive to the local lake, and then yelling that the brakes had failed when they plowed right into the water. He would chuckle when his visitors realized that the Amphicar also floats.

We've visited national parks where we've seen traffic jams caused from wildlife like bison or bears. But today we experienced a national park jam caused from cattle. Ancestors of the registered herefords raised on the ranch during LBJ's presidency are still grazing in the pastures we saw today.

Also down the road is the Johnson family cemetery. LBJ's parents are buried by the two tomb stones on the far right, followed in line by the rest of their children. Since Lyndon was the oldest, he and Lady Bird have the next two spots (and the two biggest tombstones) followed by the rest of his siblings. In our mobile society, it is interesting that LBJ was born, died, and was buried just a few miles apart.

We crossed the road to get to the state park, which features some wonderful trails through fields of bluebonnets.

Those trails took us to the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm, where the Johnson's neighbors lived. In fact, Augusta Sauer was the midwife when LBJ was born.

The state of Texas has kept the original buildings, and it is a working farm for people to get a glimpse of life in the hill country in the early 1900's.

There are still cows that are milked by hand every day,

sheep that need to be hand-sheared of their winter wool,

and this rooster might be crowing to remind the staff that today's eggs need to be gathered.

Rangers wearing period costumes are busy around the farm doing chores. We saw evidence that the vegetables from the garden had been canned, and the wool in the silver tubs is ready for spinning and weaving.

We could still smell the remains of lunch that had been cooked in the kitchen on the same stove that was used over one hundred years ago. Free lunches are part of the perks of working here at the state park. On the table now is that fresh milk turning into clabber to feed the chickens, as well as cheese for the humans.

We really enjoyed seeing the working farm at work! On our walk back to the visitor's center, we also got to see the state's herd of longhorns enjoying this beautiful day.

That brought us through another field of bluebonnets, where Denisa could sit on the bench surrounded by all that blue bounty.

A presidential state park wouldn't be complete without a statue of the president. This pose has him (and Denisa) pointing at something. What could it be?

It's the Pedernales River that flows between the national park and state park. This is the view from the Texas White House, and one that the President loved. We see that our travels some times cross paths, as we were camped on the Pedernales River at its falls state park just three months ago.

Mark mistook the presidential pose as a "guess what happens when you pull my finger" statue.

We finished our long day of sight seeing back in Johnson City, where the visitor center in town runs tours of LBJ's boyhood home. Even though he was born and died on the ranch, he spent most of his growing-up years in town closer to the high school. But times were tough, and this home was some times rented out when the family needed money. During those times, the Johnsons stayed with relatives back on the ranch.

The national park in Johnson City had a film about the first lady-- Lady Bird Johnson. Her love of nature started early when she was a child in east Texas. We found the home where she was born in our travels last year--another example of how our travel experiences interlace. We finished up our day of touring all things LBJ by moving on down the road 30 miles to the fine city of Marble Falls. On the north edge of town, we camped beside a little pond surrounded by grass and trees.

This idyllic spot is on the rim of the Walmart parking lot in Marble Falls, as we take advantage of another night of free camping. It didn't seem quite so idyllic at 1 a.m. when the sprinklers went off, showering the side of our motor home. Mark got up to move us over to the next row, thinking that some times free camping has its price.