March 26-28 Guadalupe Mountain NP and Carlsbad Caverns NP

Off to Guadalupe Mountain National Park where we braced ourselves for 50 and 70 mph wind gusts. What a fitful night after a wonderful hike up the Devil’s Hall Trail. We even closed up the slides in order to give us stabilization. We got out of there fast and headed for Carlsbad, NM, and saw the Carlsbad Caverns. Here we did the King’s Palace Guided Tour and then the Self-Guided Natural Entrance tour into the cave. After descending over 800 feet, we saw many stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, draperies, columns, popcorn, and mirrored ponds. The Big Room was the size of 14 football fields.

March 23 Davis Mountains State Park

Thanks be to God – Jackson Jordon Ohler was born to Libby (my niece) and Jordan on March 22. On to Davis Mountains State Park where we went to a Star Party at the McDonald Observatory. Through high powered telescopes we saw the moon (you could see the craters on the surface), 7 sisters (which is about 100 stars up close), Orion’s Belt nebula. Unfortunately, it got too cloudy to see Saturn. We went back the next day for a tour of the buildings that house the Hubble-Eberly telescope for which astronomers from all over the world come to use. And, also, learned about and saw up close the star we see throughout the day – the Sun. Amazing.

Throughout this trip, we have stayed mostly at state parks, many of which were built by the CCC – Civilian Conservation Corp. This group was formed back in 1933 to give men and women, age 18-25, a job for $30/month, of which $25 was sent back to their families. We are so thankful for their hard work to provide these beautiful places to stay.

March 19-22 Big Bend National Park

The big bend is the Rio Grande River which runs 118 miles through the park. The park itself covers 800,000 acres over the Chihuahua Desert, the Chisos Mountains (the only mountain range that is completely contained within the boundaries of the park), and the Rio Grande River. On the other side of the river is Mexico and were we ever treated as we walked the Boquillas Canyon. Victor was sitting up on a rock and began to sing as we approached the area, as he is hoping for a donation. Other Mexicans are across the river and either come across on a horse or paddle a canoe across offering you their souvenirs. We later learned that it was against the law to buy their wares for it is considered contraband. We visited the Santa Elena Canyon which is along the Rio Grande, stopped at many scenic overlooks, did nature trails full of cactus, and walked rancher house ruins. We also took in a hike on the Lost Mine trail that provided gifts of breathtaking scenery around every corner.

March 14-18 Amistad National Recreation Area

Our travels took us to Laredo, Texas, for a couple of nights. The interesting thing about this place was watching the families of Mexicans. They are so family-oriented where many get together under one roof, and party – they just seem so happy. Then on to Amistad National Recreation Area in Del Rio, Texas. This is a huge reservoir and nearby is the Seminole Canyon of which we took a tour and learned about many characteristics of early settlers and saw pictographs and petroglyphs. A state park ranger gave a program describing the local cacti including claret cup, torrey yucca, prickley pear, pickle shaped, leucheguilla, and more. Plus we learned all about scat…you know, animal poop.

March 8-13 At The Beach

Here on the Corpus Christi beach at Mustang Island, for most of the week we woke up to fog until the sun burns it off around 2:00. The winds were powerful the first day but have since died down, until Thursday, when they changed direction. It’s been fun riding our bikes on the beach. On Saturday, we got up early to watch the sunrise over the ocean. There are hundreds of spring breakers on the beach now; it was vacant Thursday. Families and students old and young; radio music; bands; concessions; horseshoes; bag toss; sunbathers; string of cars; volleyball; frisbie; football; grills; police. It is quite a sight and sound. The weather is perfect this weekend with no fog, blue skies, and in the 70’s. And the seashells…like we need more, but sand dollars, pen shells, scallops; and lots of dead cabbage head jellyfish and man-o-wars.

March 6-9 Austin and Corpus Christi

We toured the Texas State Capitol building and the Texas History Museum. Then Saturday night we kicked up our heels at the Broken Spoke after famous country fried steak. $8 lessons and $12 cover charge and a great time! And on Sunday, did we ever find a gold mine in Austin. A church with 2 organs, soon to have 3; a very gifted organist; choir; and a Symphony of Winds band complete with woodwinds, brass, and drums. It was outstanding; I had tears in my eyes. It was even an ELCA church with a female interim pastor that was quite good, and friendly people. We've always been welcomed no matter where we've been, but I miss seeing people I know. Then on to Mustang Island State Park at Corpus Christi - right on the beach; well, on the other side of the dunes anyway. A very quick walk to the beach and we did so this morning with a mug of coffee. So nice. Water's not bad, but I wouldn't want to swim in it. Boy, is it ever damp here with the humidity, but bearable.

March 1-4 LBJ and Hill Country

Visited the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, and found him to be a very interesting man and quite a story teller, humorous, at that. Of course, he took the oath of presidency when President Kennedy was assassinated; there was no VP then until he campaigned and won with Humphrey. He signed so many bills that became law including Civil Rights; Education; War on Poverty; The Environment; Medicare; National Endowment for Arts and Humanities; Job Corps; Head Start to name a few. The one event that plagued his presidency was the Vietnam War. He worked tirelessly and knew how to work the Congress and Senate. Staying in Blanco State Park, on the Pedernales River (which LBJ just loved). A quaint little town and central to Fredericksburg, Enchanted Rock, Johnson City (where LBJ was born), and LBJ’s ranch. We toured the “Western Whitehouse,” where he spent a lot of time conducting business and entertaining heads of state. He chose not to run for a 2nd term and so returned to the Ranch where he died of a heart attack and is buried there.

February 26 - George H Bush Presidential Library

President George H was a very family oriented man, humble, and with integrity, and loves Barbara and his family. He believes in faith, family, and friends and in that order. I found it fascinating that whenever he got on Air Force 1, the “football” went also – a briefcase that could launch a nuclear attack. The president doesn’t carry it; someone else is the “ball carrier.” During his term Kuwait was freed and the Berlin Wall came down.

February 24 Johnson Space Center, Houston

Today we moved into Texas and went to the space center for a tour. We saw the Control Center – the old one and the one from which they made a replica for the movie Apollo 13. The head of the Control Center is the one in complete control of the mission – “Houston, we have a problem.” There are ongoing simulations going on in the present day Control Center, as well as in this huge warehouse looking building that houses shuttles, robots, capsules for training purposes. Astronauts practice weightlessness in a 3-story swimming pool. They lose a lot of body mass while in space. Picture here of Saturn V also – it’s amazing the complexity of this massive piece of equipment – rocket engines and all.