San Antonio to Fredericksburg, 130 Miles
"What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know... The thing is to understand myself, to know what God really wishes me to do... To find the idea for which I can live and die."
~Soren Kierkegaard
We toured the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park today, along with his childhood home, and it reminded me that America is the land of the people, as the house was quite humble. I enjoy visiting sites of Presidents that served during my lifetime, as I remember what happened.
He was sworn in as President on Air Force One within hours of John Kennedy's assassination. He stood between Jackie Kennedy and his wife Lady Bird Johnson. Trivia question: What was Lady Bird's name? I didn't know either. Answer at the bottom. Later he campaigned and was voted President.
Johnson had the dubious distinction of escalating the Vietnam War, to the hatred and animosity of the younger generation. That must have come as quite a surprise, as WWII was so fully supported by everyone. He had enough of the troubles and announced he wouldn't run for a second term, quite an anomaly for a president.
Johnson learned the nuances of politics from his dad, who was a state legislator. He'd listen in on his dad's conversations on the porch until his mother told him eavesdropping was rude. So he hid under the bed and listened. When he got too big, he hid under the porch. He learned to intimidate by getting nose to nose with people, until they were leaning backwards away from him. Some pictures depicted that well.
We left the place and continued riding in hill country, with low hills, scrub trees and brush skirting the road, as it wound and climbed with regularity. While temperatures were lower (high of 72), the sky cleared to a full sunny afternoon.
We arrived at another KOA, this one particularly friendly, with Wednesday night being cocktail hour, a great time to share travel stories with newfound friends, even if we're non drinkers. Ron and Sheri came afterwards to our site to chat some more, as they travel with a Gold Wing trike, towing a trailer similar to ours. We compared rides and tents, sharing stories of travel and adventure.
And now, traveled and adventured, Quilter Girl!
This is really hill country! After the flat land of south Texas and Louisiana, this is quite different. I am back in long sleeves due to the chill in the air that never really left today. We picked a route that wasn't totally freeway, 35 North to 46 West to 281 to 290, so we did go through Johnson City on our way to Fredericksburg. The freeway would have been more direct, but we wouldn't have gotten to the LBJ Visitor's Center today so it worked really well.
By the time we got the tent set up we were really hungry so we rode five miles into Fredericksburg and found K-Bob's steak house that boasted a salad wagon. "Help yourselves to the salad wagon." said the server. It really was a wagon and boasted lots of salad goodies. We had a great meal and a great salad tonight and watched a bit of NASCAR while we were there.
QG
Tomorrow, we visit the LBJ ranch and a distillery. Hope to see you then.
Lady Bird Johnson name was Claudia.
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