LBJ Ranch Tour and More...

This morning we woke to the beautiful sunshine.  What a great day we had planned...

It started with breakfast of a half waffle, eggs, bacon, and coffee at

our favorite bakery on Main Street in Fredericksburg.  We passed up

these!

Then we were off to

The LBJ Ranch for a tour.  This is a combination National Park and State Park, so....my first stop was the

visitor center to collect a stamp for my passport book.   We signed in and were given a

CD for our self guided tour.

Our first stop was the

Sauer-Beckman Living History Farm.  Johann and Christine Sauer settled this land in 1869 and eventually had 10 children.  One of those, Augusta Sauer Lindig, served as midwife at the birth of LBJ on August 27, 1908.

Here

we learned that they are keeping this land as a working farm as was it was known in 1918.  They

milk the cows...

gather eggs...

slaughter hogs once a year...

grow a garden...

make bread and

cheese.

Everyday lunch is served for the rangers and workkampers on the farm.

They even

do their own laundry and hang the clothes to dry.

From here, we drove along the banks of

the Pedernales River before entering the

ranch property.  The first stop on the ranch was at the

Junction School where four year old Lyndon learned to read.  He returned here 53 years later as our 36th President to sign the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Then...it was on to the

house where he was born.  This house was reconstructed by LBJ in 1964 and was used as a guest house.

On this same property is where today both he and Lady Bird are

buried in the Johnson family cemetery.

Next on the tour was the

Sam Ealy Johnson Farmhouse.  This was the home of his great grandparents.

As we continued on through the ranch we noticed lots of cattle, deer, and other wildlife roaming freely.  It was noted on the tape that he wanted everyone to know that he was from the West.

Soon, we found that we had reached the

Texas Whitehouse.  The original century-old rock farmhouse was greatly enlarged over the years.  Out back was the

hanger and run way were he landed when flying into Texas.

Today, the ranch is managed by our National Park System as a working ranch as planned out by LBJ.

Great tour!

Then, it was on to another Texas icon...the

Post Office at Luckenbach.  Population 3

We went through the Post Office, bought a Diet Dr. Pepper and

sat out back and enjoyed a little country music.

We found that it was soon time to head back to Fredericksburg.  We made a stop at

Opa's Meat Market for some sausage.  Then it was back to the RV Park to wait on Bill and Helen.

The four of us went down to Main Street for a little shopping before stopping in at

one of the local German Restaurants for some great Jagerschnitzel!  Yummy

It was great getting to see and visit with Bill and Helen and the perfect conclusion to a great day in the Texas Hill Country.