TX Hill Country. LBJ Ranch. Lady Bird Johnson Park. Teddy Roosevelt. Penicillin. Don't Drink and Drive!.

For: Travel Tuesday", we haven't left the Fredericksburg area yet!

"Texas's famed hill country is a bucolic, rumpled terrain marked by wooded canyons cut by spring-fed rivers. It's also laced with endless miles of appealing two-lane blacktop—and, best of all, it's quirky. One minute you'll see a vista of bluebonnets and the next a sign advertising "Emu Oil, Next Exit" or "Cowboys for Christ Silent Auction."  
The Hill Country begins just north of Austin, continues south to San Antonio, and sweeps west some 200 miles (322 km) before the land begins to flatten out. Follow a route linking state and U.S. secondary highways, which lead to a series of colorful towns fit for dawdling."  From: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/hill-country-texas-road-trip

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Hill Country Culture

"Settled by Germans and Eastern Europeans, the Hill Country has a culture all its own. Storybook farms and ranches dot the countryside, and you may still hear older folks speaking German in Fredericksburg, Boerne and New Braunfels. You’ll also find some of the best barbecue in Texas, antiques shops on old-fashioned Main Streets and celebrations with roots in the Old World, like Wurstfest (a sausage festival) and Weihnachten (a Christmas festival). From: http://visitsanantonio.com/visitors/play/texas-hill-country/index.aspx

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The shaded area is The Texas Hill Country.

Pictures of the area:

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Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

"Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in central Texas about 50 miles west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country. The park protects the birthplace, home, ranch and final resting place of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States.

LBJ State Park & Historic Site near Fredericksburg offers history, beautiful hill country scenery and the Sauer Beckman Living History Farm. This "White House of the West" is truly a unique piece of Texas."      More at: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/lyndon_b_johnson/

The Sauer Beckman Living History Farm.

"During Johnson's Administration, the LBJ Ranch house was known as the Texas White House."  Touring the Texas White House: http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/planyourvisit/twhopening.htm

"LBJ is king of the Hill Country. Nothing is more evident than his home, also known as the Texas White House.  While touring the LBJ National Historical Park you will come upon it after the ranch. You will actually drive up to the hangar which is where Air Force One would land.  The hangar is transformed into a miniature exhibit and video while you wait for the tour to start. There is also a collection of old cars LBJ owned and operated on the land.    

When taking the driving tour you will come upon many homes that the Johnson family lived in when settling the area. Be sure not to get this confused with the Johnson Settlement in Johnson City!  This particular area begins by passing a Lutheran Church LBJ would attend. It's also the sight of where he began his HeadStart program that is so successful today. Head Start is a preschool for parents who can't afford a good start to education. Then you will pass LBJ's old school. (So small!)   Then you will come across the house that LBJ lived as a boy...he was not born here (that's in Johnson City). It also has a red house which was where LBJ's grandparents lived.
Across from all of the homes is the Johnson Family Cemetery. There is where LBJ is buried. His wife is also there." Read more: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/Texas/Fredericksburg-877642/Things_To_Do-Fredericksburg-LBJ_Ranch-BR-1.html#ixzz1mI2ATcve

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JetStar rescued from Arizona 'bone yard' made numerous trips for the Johnson White House.

"LBJ's plane has made its final landing.  A JetStar that flew in and out of Lyndon Johnson's ranch when he was vice president and president in the 1960s is back. The 13-passenger Lockheed plane is sometimes referred to as Air Force One Half.  The historic JetStar is on permanent exhibit at the LBJ ranch in the Hill Country."           Video and more at: http://www.statesman.com/news/local/piece-of-flying-history-lands-on-lbj-ranch-868981.html

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FRIENDS OF LBJ NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK 
Click: Map      Coming 2012 Events:

March 24: 5th Annual LBJ 100 Bicycle Tour
April 13: Reflections of the '60s at LBJ Ranch: Anniversary of Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965, at LBJ Ranch
May 5: Barbeque On The Pedernales, at the LBJ Ranch
June 2: Movies Under the Stars, at the LBJ Ranch
July 14: Movies Under the Stars, at the LBJ Ranch
August 27: 104th Anniversary of LBJ's
Birth Wreathlaying Ceremony, at the LBJ Ranch
November 24, December 1, 15: Christmas at the
Boyhood Home, 1920s Style, at Johnson City
December 8: "Timeless Christmas in Johnson City",
A 1920s Christmas at the Boyhood Home, and
a 1860s Christmas, at the Johnson Settlement

Click on web sites below for details.
Friends: www.FriendsOfLBJNationalPark.orgEmail: info@FriendsOfLBJNationalPark.org
NPS Web: www.nps.gov/lyjo

http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/index.htm

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Lady Bird has left her own memorials around the USA, one is:

Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park

"Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park in Fredericksburg, Texas is quite versatile. There’s a softball field with lights, a baseball field, and one practice field. A creek is available for fishing and boating (though only boats without motors). What’s more, there’s an 18-hole, par-72, championship golf course with driving range, putting greens, and a practice bunker." 

Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course is open every day of the week except Monday mornings.  It is located out State Highway 16 South,  3 miles south of the downtown area, inside Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park. For more information or for tee time reservations, call  (830) 997-4010 or toll-free 1-800-950-8147.

RV Park

"Guests or relatives coming in from out of town can park their travel trailer or motor home at the beautiful Lady Bird Johnson Municipal RV Park.  The park features 113 RV spaces with 30-50 amp electrical hookups, water, sewer,  Time Warner cable TV, and lots of lush shade trees. Wireless Internet is now available for an additional fee."

Lady Bird Johnson Park

"The Fredericksburg Nature Center, located at Lady Bird Johnson Park, southwest of Fredericksburg, TX on Hwy 16 offers a unique blend of diverse habitats to visitors, one that can be found nowhere else in Texas. Click here for a map.  More particularly, the Nature Center is fortunate to be a focus of diversity because of the local hydrology and geology.

Within the Nature Center's ten acres you will find 11 distinct habitats, among them: Post Oak savannah, Wetland, Riparian, Old growth Live Oak woods, Native Texas prairie, Cedar brake, Lake aquatics, Mud flats, Lake islands, Springs and seeps. That one small area offers so many species of birds, forbs, grasses, woody plants, amphibians, reptiles, and insects is truly amazing. Come visit the Fredericksburg Nature Center and see for yourself!"

--------------Upcoming Events-------------

Butterfly Chase - 8:30 AM - Sunday, April 29

Field Trip ticket required in addition to festival pass.
Guided two-hour chase at Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park. Short, easy walk.  Group leaves from the Pioneer Pavilion at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 29.

Swap Meet, July 27, 28, 29 2012.

35th Annual Hill Country Swap Meet at Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park http://fredericksburgcarclub.com/swap_meet.html   Hosted by the Fredericksburg Vintage Car Club,  a Chapter of Veteran Motor Car Club of America.    Benefit FVCC Scholarship Fund     

Sept. 3 - Extended thru Feb. 26
Around About Water

January 7 thru March 11
Living Witness: Historic Trees of Texas

January 7 to March 11
Urban Folk by Judy Paul

February 25-26, 2012
2012 Native Plant Spring Symposium

Starting February 27
Professional Workshop Series: Principles of Successful Sustainable Landscapes

Monday, February 27
Lunchtime Webinar Series

Begins March 12- Wildflower Days™ 2012

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"The municipal park where we spend the winter has a golf course, nature trail, lovely club house, swimming pool (in the summer), tennis courts, small river and sports fields in addition to around 90 campsites.  When we can have the windows open, we can hear the water falling over the dam." More at: http://travelingsnyders.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/winter-texans-and-lady-bird-johnson-municipal-park/

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From me:  It was when we were at Lady Bird Johnson Park that I saw my ideal RV combo, a Class A with a pop-top Astro Provan Tiger RV for a toad. From then on, I wanted a Tiger, but never bought one.

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On This Day:

Theodore Roosevelt's wife and mother die, Feb 14, 1884:

"On this day in 1884, future President Theodore Roosevelt's wife and mother die, only hours apart.

Roosevelt was at work in the New York state legislature attempting to get a government reform bill passed when he was summoned home by his family. He returned home to find his mother, Mittie, had succumbed to typhoid fever. On the same day, his wife of four years, Alice Lee, died of Bright's disease, a severe kidney ailment. Only two days before her death, Alice Lee had given birth to the couple's daughter, Alice.

The double tragedy devastated Roosevelt. He ordered those around him not to mention his wife's name. Burdened by grief, he abandoned politics, left the infant Alice with his sister Bamie, and, at the end of 1884, struck out for the Dakota territories, where he lived as a rancher and worked as a sheriff for two years. When not engrossed in raising cattle or acting as the local lawman, Roosevelt found time to indulge his passion for reading and writing history. After a blizzard wiped out his prized herd of cattle in 1885, Roosevelt decided to return to eastern society. Once back in New York in 1886, he again took up politics and took over raising his precocious daughter, Alice, who later became a national celebrity.

After stints in the Spanish-American War and as governor of New York, Roosevelt won a spot as William McKinley's vice-presidential running mate in 1896. When McKinley died at the beginning of his second term in 1901, Roosevelt moved into the White House, where he and his family would spend the next eight years.

Alice grew to admire and respect her father yet, according to her memoirs and friends, she harbored resentment toward him for having abandoned her as a baby. Not long after he married his second wife, Edith, in 1886, Alice found herself competing not only with her father's political cronies and new wife for his attention, but also with her five half-siblings who arrived in quick succession. The high-spirited Alice perhaps took to scandalous behaviour in retaliation.

The Roosevelt era coincided with a repressive time in women's history, but the outspoken and independent Alice flouted acceptable behavior and reveled in the spotlight as first daughter. Alice's activities as a young adult, such as smoking and staying out late with boys, irked her father, who nevertheless indulged her. In one instance when she repeatedly burst into a White House meeting, Roosevelt shrugged apologetically, "I can either run the country or I can control Alice, but I cannot possibly do both."

After Roosevelt left office, Alice maintained a high profile in Washington society. She was banned from visiting the Taft White House after a voodoo doll of Mrs. Taft was found buried (by Alice) in the front lawn. President Wilson also banned her from White House society in retaliation for her making a lewd comment about him in public. Wilson was not her only target--she once remarked that her friend, Warren Harding's Vice President Calvin Coolidge, looks as though he's been weaned on a pickle."

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Penicillin discovered, Feb 14, 1929:

"Sir Alexander Fleming was a young bacteriologist when an accidental discovery led to one of the great developments of modern medicine on this day in 1929. Having left a plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered, Fleming noticed that a mold that had fallen on the culture had killed many of the bacteria. He identified the mold as penicillium notatum, similar to the kind found on bread. On February 14, 1929, Fleming introduced his mold by-product called penicillin to cure bacterial infections."

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Yesterday:

Jay said he didn't want to paddle around in the cold and rain, but I told him we have plenty to do inside, so Misty and I went to get him.  Jay, Misty, Maddie and I, had our walk wearing raincoats.

Jay got up on the step ladder and took down the outside electric 'Yard Sale' sign down, finally.  We did a few more jobs in the grooming room.

Today, Valentine's Day, is not something our family celebrates for religious reasons, (http://www.ucg.org/bible-faq/where-did-valentines-day-come-it-wrong-christian-celebrate-it ). Anyway, people should show their love for one another every day.  Also, because it is a very sad time for us. The reason I took my dying dog to Galveston on the 4th-5th February 2006, was so I could see my dying granddaughter in hospital there.

Six years ago today, my granddaughter died from being hit by that drunk driver, after being in a coma for 18 days.