A Little Mardi Gras and Texas Independence Day!

Yes!  We were relieved there was not another government shutdown and we could continue with our plans for the next 3 months of being volunteers at the Lyndon B. Johnson Historical National Park.  Ron assumed his duties with the maintenance guys and I went back into interpretation.  Some things have changed here. The Texas White House is closed to inside tours.  There’s some structural issues that need to be addressed in there.  It’s an old house and the wear and tear of hundreds of people everyday walking through it are evident.  Looking forward to those repairs starting!  And the office space that we used for our hang out area/break room is closed due to black mold.  It’s a little challenging to find a good spot to hang out in with this crazy Texas weather we’re having!  It’s been chilly, freezing, then the next day warm and sunny!  Oh well.

New twin herefords!

Our first fun Wednesday evening at Albert was the free Valentine’s Day Dance!  They are opening this historic dance once a month now.  We enjoyed dancing to The Lost Sounds of Texas Honky Tonk and catching up on visits from old and new friends alike.

The dog is very particular about his songs!

The next weekend Liz brought Lucy and Aiden to visit with us and boy did we have fun!  They both were sworn in as Jr. Rangers here at the LBJ Park.  Then they used their active imaginations to save the world, sporting their Jr. Ranger vests.  Liz and I took time off to visit one of the hundred wineries in the area, Pedernales Cellars, and enjoyed a bottle and a great view and catching up on visiting.

LBJ's low water crossing

Getting sworn in as Jr. Rangers from Ranger Sandy!

Posing with the Johnson's!

Posing the Jr. Ranger vest and badge

Mom and daughter time!

And the next weekend was Mardi Gras Weekend in Bandera, the Cowboy Capitol of the World!  We pulled the rig out for this and met our youngest daughter Amy and her husband James.  Now let me tell you there are some characters here!  All the activities centered from the 11^th Street Bar.  It can get crowded.  We enjoyed some excellent people watching, music, a parade on Saturday, bead catching and dancing! 

Me and Amy!

Start of the parade!

You know you're in Bandera when your ride of choice is a Longhorn!

My Patron beads!

Look close in this picture!

Wayne Toups, an awesome musician and the main reason we wanted to come!

Big crowd!

Ending the night at a dance at Arkey Blues!

Saturday, March 2 which is Texas Independence Day, we took our Washington friends Ed and Carolyn to Luchenbach  to observe some awesome activities centered around this special Texas Day.  There was a band playing and through their music they recounted the history of Texas all the way to the Alamo.  They also had a Texas Flag Retirement ceremony, and many Texas Rangers were present, as well as memorabilia from these outstanding folks.

He's singing and talking about Davy Crockett heading to Texas. Notice his cap!

A little canon firing is about to take place.

Pistol packing Annie!

The cast of characters, from the Texas Rangers Association (I believe)

We then went to the Texas Heritage Winery. Ed and Carolyn did a tasting. The main draw here was to listen to Mike Blakeley sing.  We’ve heard him before and appreciate his song writing and music skills.  They also had a Texas flag retirement ceremony and Ron was able to be a participant in it.  We have never witnessed this before and I have to say that it was very moving!

 

Ed and Carolyn are getting a tasting

Annie and Mike Blakeley

He's explaining how to retire a Texas flag.  It gets cut based on the colors and then burned.

Ron on the right helping to hold the flag as he cuts it.

Yep, another fun time!!

Our last activity on this fun filled dreary day was to check out the new Alstadt brewery, which has taken at least 3 years to build!  This place is awesome and we look forward to coming back. We enjoyed a flight of beer and checking it out.

 

Carolyn, Ed and Ron

They were all good!

The next day we traveled to Lockhart to visit with our friends Mike and Marva that we volunteer with at Brazos Bend State Park.  They treated us to some great Black’s BBQ!  We look forward to seeing them again next winter!

LBJ is everywhere

Ron and Mike

That wraps up our time here in the beautiful Texas Hill Country!  We’ve had 3 bad, long freezes.  I’m sure the blooming peach trees have been damaged. The bluebonnets were starting to bloom. We’ll have to see if they survived ok.  Until next time!