The day after Christmas, I packed up from my cousin’s and hit the road in the direction of Big Bend National Park. But first, I had several stops planned along the way.

SpaceX

On my way out of town, I drove past the nearby SpaceX complex. Of course, I couldn’t get very close, but it was fun to get a peek at what they have going on. On my way there, I saw a field with some buildings half-buried in the ground; I still haven’t figured out what it was all about. There is a research station nearby, so may be related to that. I was so curious, I took a snip of a google satellite map, too!

Storm Shelter

I stopped at a rest area and saw a sign for a storm shelter – not something I’m accustomed to seeing. Also at the rest area, there was information about a series tornados that came through some years ago, which explained the necessity of the shelter.

Austin, TX

In the last year or so, I’ve been doing more needle felting. The store I buy my supplies from, Living Felt, is in Dripping Springs, TX. That was a must stop for me. It is about 30 miles west of Austin. As Christmas fell on Sunday this year, Monday was a holiday and the store was closed. With the extra day, I headed for Austin. I hit a couple of grocery stores (Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s – both I know carry food that meets my dietary needs), then walked up and down 6^th Ave, the main tourist drag. Despite most places being closed because of the holiday, it was a lovely day for a walk.

I sat on the banks of the Colorado in the late afternoon while I ate and people watched: rowers on the river, joggers and bicyclists on the trail, families in the park. I was killing time because a friend had steered me towards dive with some good music. According to the website, there would be live music later in the day. Unfortunately, despite what their website said, the bar was actually closed for the holiday.

Dripping Springs and Living Felt

Not having much reason to hang around Austin for the night – I headed on out to Dripping Springs and found a place to park with public restrooms nearby.

The next morning, I used the picnic tables in the park to make breakfast and headed over to my felting store at opening. It was so fun to introduce myself to the owner in person and see the shop in real life. I could see all the wool – all the glorious colors – and feel the different fibers. I made a few small purchases, but didn’t stock up because I don’t have much space in the car.

Lyndon B Johnson

I spent the next part of the day learning about President Lyndon Johnson at several parks. I started at the Johnson City portion of the LBJ National Historical Park – the town where he was born and grew up. There was also a good film on his presidency. I didn’t realize how much modern legislation was passed during his tenure, from the voting rights act, to environmental laws, to efforts to reduce poverty. In the end, Vietnam was his demise.

At the Johnson Settlement, I saw his grandparents log home and buildings from the cattle driving days. The home is a dog trot home – a dog could trot through the middle section.

Next up – LBJ State Park, where they have a living museum on a farm that was established in the latter half of the 1800s. I love living museums, getting to see how things were actually done and understand what it took to live in different times and places. I had fun chatting with the volunteers in costume and got to try out spinning cotton for myself. I learned how to process cotton – pick out the seeds and then card – before spinning. It would take a lot of work to have enough cotton to weave cloth for an article of clothing.

I also saw an interesting looking shelf – an evaporative cooler. Cloth covers the whole thing, tucked in at the top, it wicks water from the tray at the top, which is fed by the bucket. It keeps the contents of the shelves up to 15 degrees cooler than the air temp. I’m imagining that at least the butter wouldn’t be liquid in the middle of the summer.

At this point, the day was running short – one of the challenges of traveling in the winter is it gets dark early! I made a quick drive around the Johnson Ranch, saw the Texas White House – where LBJ lived and conducted business when he was in TX – from the outside (it is currently closed), peered in the plane LBJ came into the ranch on (a full-sized jet was too big), and then hit the road.

Texas Hill Country

I continued west through the Texas Hill Country. I was surprised at the number of wineries. Someone explained that it was more a tourist thing than good wine country. The area draws tourists from several major metro areas.

Fortunately, the driving in west Texas is easy – not a lot of traffic and straight roads. I made it to Ozona and parked at another rest area for the night; I was joined by an RV and several vans.