Winding up and heading West...

 Saturday, October 12, 2024

Today we traveled 2 1/2 hours to Austin Texas to visit the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum.  This museum is on the campus of the University of Texas. The building is 10 stories high, surrounded by a large plaza area, and is nestled in the campus in a busy urban area. 

The University of Texas football team, the Longhorns, is in first place, and there is a big football game today, the Red River Rivalry, between the Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. We really lucked out that the game is being played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and not at the campus stadium.  Whew! If it was being played at home, we may not have been able to find a place for the Lundcruiser to stay, or even get to the museum. These Texans are crazy about football!  You can see the football field from the library.  (the Longhorns won the game 34-3)

LBJ was the 36th president and served from 1963-69.  He assumed the presidency after Kennedy was assassinated, and there was a period of 14 months where the country was without a vice president.  LBJ's vice president was Hubert Humphrey.

The building is 10 stories high, and had an impressive Grand Staircase, surrounded by four floors of boxes of archival documents. (45 million of them!)  This created a breathtaking greeting as we entered the museum.

Unfortunately the 10th floor is closed for renovation, and we were not able to see the replica of the Oval Office, or Lady Bird's office.   Seeing a picture just isn't the same...can't tell the color of the rug, but you can see the drapes are different!

I had forgotten (but maybe really never knew) all of the legislation that passed during LBJ's term.  It's quite impressive to see his list of accomplishments.   We can thank LBJ for Medicare (YES thank you!), the Civil Rights Act, more national park sites and so much more.  His legislation made a huge difference which is evident in our lives today.  

LBJ's term started with a tragedy (Kennedy's assassination) and he had a heavy shadow of the Vietnam War at the end of his term.  The war was the reason LBJ decided not to seek re-election...he felt he could not do anything to change things.

A special exhibition on the Vietnam War opened last week (to offset the 10th floor being closed). It was quite impactful.  There was a lot of footage from war time, interviews with servicemen describing their experience, their fear and their memories.  There were lots of uniforms and artifacts, including "survival cards" that showed the servicemen how to avoid certain illness.

There was a wall-sized photo of the memorial wall, and displays of items left at the wall. 

It was a solemn exhibit, but an important part of our history.

LBJ also dealt with the Cold War era.  This teletype machine was used to communicate with Russia!

There was an exhibit to illustrate LBJ's sense of humor.

The Presidents must get to keep their limos, because this library had one on display too.  (I guess there isn't a huge market for presidential limousines, except maybe for prom dates?)  Presidential travel changed after Kennedy's assassination, and the cars were no longer convertibles.

I think LBJ had the best signature of all of the presidents that we visited.  Clinton had good handwriting but the Bushes both needed to practice a bit more on theirs!

After our visit, we returned to the rv park and enjoyed the nice patio area next to the rv and sat outside and watched the end of the race.

It has been a great Fall Fling.  Visiting the Presidential Libraries has certainly given us a better appreciation for the office of the President, a better understanding of the men that held the office, and also highlighted parts of history we had forgotten or didn't know.  These libraries are a treasure for the people of our country, and others too.  We noticed several foreign groups touring today.   I only wish we had started a "passport" to record all of the libraries that we visited.  Now we're inspired to visit more...4 down, 11 to go!  But first, we continue our westward journey and should end up in Scottsdale on Tuesday.

Counting Backwards....

 Friday, October 11, 2024

Well, we've been to 43, 42 and today we visited 41...that's the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.  It opened in 1997, about 4 years after Bush, the 41st president, left office in 1993.

This museum is located on the edge of the campus of Texas A&M.  Although Bush did not attend A&M (he was a Yale grad), the school approached him about the idea of putting his museum on their campus, and made it happen.  This museum is a beautiful building with a grand entrance.

There was a lot of information about Bush and his life.  He was a two term vice-president under Reagan and a one term President, with Quayle as his vice.  He also was a congressman, ambassador to the UN, headed up the CIA, and was an ambassador to China.  He was born on the east coast but ended up in Texas by virtue of the oil industry.  

In June 2024, they commemorated Bush's 100th birthday with a 41@100 celebration, including guitars from country singers that performed.  Bush was a big country music fan.

There was the replica of the oval office.  (I find myself checking out the rug, and noticed the drapes are a different color than the others we've seen.)

 

There were several very large artifacts on display, including a presidential limousine.  I learned each president has two of these limos.  One stays in Washington DC and the other is loaded onto a transport plane that is flown ahead to wherever the president is traveling, arriving before Air Force One.

(the prez doesn't have to call an Uber)

There was a plane identical to the one he flew during the war.  He crashed and was rescued.

There was a piece of the Berlin Wall that came down in 1989

His cigarette boat, The Fidelity

Air Force Two...the Presidential helicopter

To honor Bush, Union Pacific Railroad dedicated 4141-a locomotive that was painted in the colors used on Air Force One.  The engine was actually put in service hauling freight.  Its last service run was a funeral train, transporting Bush to his final resting place, and is now on permanent display at the museum. 

The grounds were beautiful, with a presidential pond, a rose garden, and the gravesite for President and Mrs. Bush, and their daughter Rosemary who died at a young age from leukemia.

We have a lot of Aggie relatives, but have never been to Texas A&M, so we drove through the campus.  You couldn't miss the huge football stadium that seems big enough for an NFL team!  

We are finding the visits to Presidential Libraries very interesting, educational and humbling.  We continue with one more tomorrow!

Touring in Texas

 Wednesday-Thursday, October 9-10, 2024

Wednesday was a driving day...it was quite a challenge driving through Dallas during rush hour, surrounded by construction!  

We made a mandatory stop at Buc-ees the super-size travel stop/convenience store.  Bucees started in Texas but is expanding, and Indiana will soon have a Buc-ees!   It's always fun to see how big the place is, how many gas pumps there are (and how cheap the fuel is--only $2.95 for diesel!) and how much stuff there is to shop for!  My only purchase was a brisket sandwich. 

Dallas is a confusing system of highways, but has pretty bridges!

Our tour on Thursday was the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. In typical Texas fashion, the Center is HUGE at 207,000 square feet!  It is the second largest presidential library (behind only Reagan's.)

It sits on the SMU campus, which is a beautiful area.  One of the guides told us the Bushes were looking for a location, knew they wanted to stay in the area, Laura Bush graduated from SMU, property was available, so it all fell into place!  The guide also shared that all presidential libraries are built with private funds.  The Bush Center cost $250 million to build and was dedicated in 2013. 
The entry hall was breathtaking--a 67-foot-high atrium, with wood-paneled ceiling and dramatic lighting.

Along the walls were cases that displayed gifts from around the world given to the President and his wife.   One could go jewelry shopping in these cases!

This is an excellent museum.  It provides an overview of the eight-year Bush presidency including major events during that time.  There was so much that went on during that period.  I remember it, and now it's part of history! (Makes me feel old....)  There was a large exhibit devoted to the 9/11 attacks and the response of the country in the aftermath.  9/11 occurred just 9 months into Bush's presidency.  On display were two girders from the world trade center.

It was ironic to see information on 2005 hurricane Katrina, just one day after the hurricane Milton scare.

It was also fun to meet Katherine, a guide that went to school at ISU in Terre Haute!  Small world!

There were a number of short videos narrated by Bush himself, Laura Bush, and a video by his twin daughters Jenna and Barbara (named for their maternal grandmothers) that explained life in the White House from the personal side.  

Bush was managing general partner of the Texas rangers before he became governor.  You can tell he was proud of his personal baseball collection.

This museum also had a replica of the Oval Office.  It was interesting to see the differences between this one and Clinton's. Each president is able to choose the pictures that hang on the walls, the fabric of the couches and the rug.  Bush had a painting of the Alamo hanging on the wall.  They said Laura Bush wanted to brighten up the room so chose a yellow rug, which has the Texas lone star in the border. 

The lower level of the Bush Presidential Center is devoted to archives.  There are over 70 million documents, and 80 terabytes of electronic records stored in vaults in the 65,000 square foot basement! (We didn't really have time to do research today....)

We had lunch in the cafe. And guess what!  It is called Cafe 43! (Bush was the 43rd President)  

It was another nice restaurant with a nice outdoor space.

But the day wasn't over and we aren't done touring!   We met up with Texas cousins Marian and Steve who showed us around the Arlington area. 

Just two days ago, it was announced that the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington will be held here in March 2026.  The track will weave between the Cowboy's football and Ranger's baseball stadiums and through the sports and entertainment district. Should be exciting!

We went to Texas Live in the entertainment district.  I've never seen tv's this big! (Only in Texas).  I can only imagine what it's like on game day.