Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Highway 281 Milepost 300 - 590

My decision to wing-it in getting motel room might have bit me a bit!  :)
Just got connection to my blog now and it's time for bed.  I think I was still so excited about this trip last night, but I slept very poorly.  Even got up at 3 am to look at map!

Milepost   365  Johnson City, TX  - the hometown of President Lyndon B. Johnson.  Toured his boyhood home, learned a lot about his family and saw a great film about his presidency.  Here's a few photos from home. 






Lyndon's mother was a college graduate and did quite a bit of tutoring in their home.  Here's a photo that was displayed in their home.

Quite gruesome looking, isn't it?  Now take a look of the close-up of the same photo.


Now do you see the lady looking in the mirror?  Mrs. Johnson kept this on  display to always remind her children that things are not always what they seem at first glance.  Wise woman!

Johnson's four plus years in office were very busy for him.  The civil rights law was signed in 1964; Medicare and Medicaid went into effect in 1965.  In his first two years in office, he signed over 200 laws that affected the environment; foreign affairs; arts and humanities; space program; health; consumer protection and civil rights.  I have already seen his ranch about 15 miles west of Johnson City, also very interesting.  

Milepost 387  Marble Falls - A long-time friend, upon hearing about my trip, told me "you have to get 'the largest cinnamon roll in Texas' at the Blue Bonnet cafe."  So I got there about 11:40 am and there was already a waiting line.  I ordered lunch and a cinnamon roll to go.  If you can, look at the photo on facebook.  I will have this roll tomorrow as this motel does not provide a breakfast.  Looking forward to that treat.  

Milepost 402 New Road!  I have traveled Highway 281 up until this point, now I'm truly in new territory!

Milepost 411  Saw my first dead armadillo on the side of road.  

Milepost 420   Ranch gates are created unique to the owner and I have seen a lot of different gates in our travels. Below is one that is not very ornate, but the scene was beautiful to me.

Milepost 457  Evant, TX   This row of storefronts were right along the highway.  They look so empty, forlorn and rejected.


I passed through intermittent rain storms most of the day and I took this photo of the back end of the storm after I got through it.

So excited, still  a lot of wildflowers in the ditches!  

Milepost 510  Stephenville, TX
Very nice town with a small park dedicated to old (some recreated) buildings.  You didn't think I could go a day without taking a few photos of buildings, now did you?  After the rain storms, this church with the blue sky looked so beautiful to me.


Here is one of log homes.  I liked the reflection in the window.



Milepost 525  Saw my second dead armadillo.  

Milepost 555   Mineral Wells, TX.  From the size of this town, I expected a lot more than deserted buildings and a very run-down downtown.  Sad!  They did have signs on the lampposts, "Keep Mineral Wells Crazy - Stop, Shop & Stay."  I figured it was a copy-cat version of Keep Austin Weird!  But then I remembered that Crazy Water that bottled the mineral water for years was part of  this town's history.

Milepost 590  Jacksboro, TX  Another friend suggested I go to a Mexican restaurant (Casa Grande) here and I did  for dinner.  Very good! 

So now I'm stuffed to the gills and need to get sleep so that I can eat my cinnamon roll tomorrow!  And I still have half a bag of Twizzlers left.


2 comments:

Robyn Austin said...

I love taking this trip WITH you! Keep the great photos (and fact bites) coming! Be safe, dear sister!

Robyn Austin said...
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