The LBJ Ranch in Johnson City, Texas

Today Kris and I drove out to Johnson City, Texas to visit the LBJ Ranch which is a National Park. You can drive through the ranch and then get a guided tour of the Texas White House by a Park Ranger.

If you are a Texan and for some crazy reason you are thinking of moving out of the state I encourage you to take a trip to Johnson City, watch the 15 minute movie at the Visitor's Center and drive the ranch and take the tour - you will fall in love with Texas all over again. You will be reminded of it's unmatched beauty and your heart won't let you leave.

To start the day we participated in the 2nd Annual Seed Stomp where we dropped seeds then walked over them in a tilled-up area in front of the Visitor's Center. Everyone knows that Lady Bird loved wildflowers and this was done in her honor as a way to create excitement about wildflowers. The park ranger told us to come back in the Spring to see if the seeds we dropped turn into flowers! After that we watched the 15 minute video of LBJ giving a tour of his ranch to a news journalist back in the 70's. The way he and Lady Bird described their life out at the ranch makes you want to be immediately transported there.

Then we went on the tour of the ranch, where you drive your own car at your own pace but are guided by a cd, and finally a tour of the house. Here are some of the pics from our day:

Kris dropping wildflower seeds

east view from the top of the ranch

the front porch

the front lawn

Texas White House dining room

Secret Service housing on the ranch

LBJ's car collection

the bridge across the Pedernales River to the ranch

the front of the house

If you can't make the trip to Johnson City you can watch this video I found on You Tube which is about Fredericksburg, Texas but has a feature on the LBJ Ranch.

Oh, and I forgot to take my camera to our tailgate for the Texas Tech vs. Texas game but it was awesome. We had almost 50 people in attendance and we got visits from friends we hadn't seen in a while. Even if I had brought the camera I was way to busy talking to take pictures. Incidentally, Texas is having a great season - just yesterday they whooped the pants off of UTEP!

When you are a good dog...

Daddy tucks you into the bed.

Isn't this sweet? Just when I think Kris is going to be upset because there will be dog hair on his pillow he come in and does this. And it's too cute!

Bevo's Pirogue

Er... I mean Beveaux's Pirogue!!! My father had a pirogue custom made for Kris and I. It's 5 feet long and the inside is painted with fiber glass so that we can use it in place of a beer bucket. This is the beginning stages of transforming it from a beautiful, simple Cypress boat into an awesome tailgate-scape for the ultimate Longhorn fan/tailgate host. And yes, I just created the term tailgate-scape - even tailgates have centerpieces and pizazz.

Mr. Frank sanding off a bit of the stain that had dripped.

Spraying in the primer

You can see that Kris is smiling... he likes the way the color is coming out!

Almost done with the painting part...

Paint is on - sides and bottom are orange, taped up trim on the ends is white.

Now all we need to do is add the big white Longhorn decal on the side and a special something to the bow. Pics of the finished product and from the tailgate will be posted next week. Have a great weekend everybody!

Halloween costumes have been purchased!

And I'll give you a hint... one of them is going to be a fruit and the other is going to be an amphibian. Now, I might be a weirdo dog person, but I'd be even weirder if I passed up good quality dog costumes in the right size for $10 at Target.

Right?

Right!

Alternative cold-compress technique

She won't let me hold it up against her face. But she will let me put it under her head. I'll take that. Gotta get some cold on those hot spots! Next up... A little pink pill to help with the itching.

Whatever happened to our weekly post for Grandma???

Mama's been busy so she hasn't been posting our letters to Grandma again. Bad mama.

Hopefully this post will result in Grandma sending Mama an email reminding her to post our letters in a more timely manner... Oh and to give us more treats.

She's looking @ me like this b/c I'm eating a cookie

Sleeping hounds