Off to Austin

On Sunday, we went to the 9 AM mass at Corpus Christi, with a very mulicultural congregation. The Roman Catholic church says that it is the universal church, and it sure looked universal. A nice mass.

We relaxed around the pleasant and quiet Lakeside campground, enjoying the cool gulf breezes, until the noon check out time. We drove to Austin, and arrived at McKinney State Park around 4 PM. It is hotter here than in Houston, luckily our campsite is shaded by big oak trees. We listened to the cicadas in the evening.

On Monday, we started by driving to the State Capitol. We caught up with a tour guide, who told us that the Capitol in Austin is higher than the US capitol in Washington DC. There are some historically incorrect paintings depicting the events of the Texas war of Independence from Mexico. We had lunch at the Capitol.


We proceeded on to the LBJ Presidential library, which was very interesting. There was a large retrospective of Walter Cronkite's career, as well as many exhibits depicting the turbulent 60's. It struck me that they were playing the music of my youth, including the Jefferson Airplane. Interesting to see a historical presentations on an era that we remembered, instead of an era before we were born. The photo is of one of the pens with which LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1965, one of his most important accomplishments. But of course the good things that LBJ did were overshadowed by the Vietnam War.......

We went over to visit John and Judy for dinner. John is one of the art metal folks that Richard hangs out with on the internet. We had a nice chat and dinner. Interestingly, three of the four of us worked in the electronics business, and ended our working career on or about 2001, during the recession, so we had a lot in common.

On Tuesday we visited the Mexi-Arte museum, which had a special exhibit on the centennial of Mexican independence, lots of photos from the 1910 celebration, which occurred right before the Mexican revolution ousted President Porfirio Diaz. Definitely worth the stop. After lunch at Manual's Mexican restaurant, we headed to the Texas History Museum, which tries to tell all of Texas history in one building. It does a pretty good job, but I wanted more information, so we bought a book.

Wednesday we plan to head for the beach.

Ryan and Cindy's wedding

On Saturday, Richard went out to visit the Contemporary Craft museum, a gallery with dia de los muertos retablos, the Rothko Chapel, and the Holocaust museum. Richard enjoyed the contemporary craft museum, but would have enjoyed it more if the resident artists had been around. The retablos were somewhat interesting. The Rothko Chapel left Richard cold, with the large paintings black on black. The Holocaust museum included a railroad car, like the one's used to transport Jews to the death camps.

In the evening, we arrived early at the church, sat down, and noted how much an Episcopal church looks like a Catholic Church, including the tabernacle and the stations of the cross. The priest was Cindy's father, Jim, and with only eleven people in attendance, the ceremony was a very intimate affair. The ceremony felt very familiar, and included the traditional "in sickness and in health." They made a very nice couple. Patrick, Ryan's brother, was the best man. Becky, Cindy's sister in law, was the matron of honor.

After the ceremony, we went to a fancy steak restaurant for dinner, where we ate very well and chatted with the family. Cindy and Ryan were leaving for Ireland the following day.

All in all, a very nice wedding.

Fort Richardson

We got up early, and were on the road by 8. We stopped in Amarillo to pick up fuel and a generous supply of tourist information, and headed southeast.

By midday, we had concluded that we did not want to drive through Dallas-Fort Worth during the afternoon rush hour, and Marianne selected Fort Richardson State Park for the evening. This fort was one of the forts active during the indian war period. Colonel MacKenzie, the same colonel who fought the indians in Palo Duro Canyon, was the commanding officer here, and used it as a base for pursuing the hostile indians.

Pretty amazing that these stories keep tying together, between Palo Duro, Fort Richardson, and the book "Empire of the Summer Moon". At this rate, we might start to understand the indian wars in this area. One key part of that history was the decision by President Grant to end the "Quaker Peace Policy", and unleash the army on the indians. Up to that point, the indians were able to raid and then retreat to the reservations, where the army was not allowed to chase them. The indian raids soon ended after the army was able to work freely.

Amarillo and Palo Duro Canyon

We got on the road Tuesday about 7:45, early for us, and headed south on US287, a big truck route.

When we arrived in Amarillo, Richard had to go see the Helium monument and sculpture. Amarillo was the world capital of helium until the US government decided that we did not need a strategic reserve of helium.

Then we headed over to West Texas A&M, to the Panhandle Plains Museum, in Canyon. They threw us out at the 5 PM closing time; our two hour visit did not let us see all the interesting things. One of my favorite exhibits was the one comparing flint arrowheads and a semi-automatic pistol. Another interesting exhibit was the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun; Marianne remembers seeing Red Ryder and his sidekick, Little Beaver, ride in the parades in Durango. The AK47 rifle was captured during the first gulf war. Marianne enjoyed the indian clothing. There was also a large Western art exhibit, but unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of the art. Other exhibits included a pioneer village, an oil rig, cars, you name it. A great Museum.

We then headed to Palo Canyon State Park, the biggest canyon in Texas. Very pretty and quiet. We stood outside after dark and admired the almost full moon, pleasant temperature and a beautiful night.

Wednesday was a rest day, we slept in and later took an afternoon nap in the heat of the day. We had a nice chat with an older lady in the visitor center, who explained that the "llano estacado" is the "staked plain"; the story is that the area was so flat, with few identifying features, that people placed stakes in the ground to help them find their way around. I later found a different story, in which Coronado named the staked plain referring to the escarpment where the plains dropped off into canyons. We went up to see the feeding of the official Texas Herd of Longhorn cattle. One of the cattle was 29 years old! Pretty impressive horns. We saw a flock of wild turkeys, a cardinal, and a red bellied woodpecker, kind of like a ladderback woodpecker with more red on the head. Overall, not too many birds, however.

We reread part of the "Empire of the summer moon", in which the author described Colonel MacKenzie's search for the Comanches, which culminated in an Army attack on the indian's secret hideout in Palo Duro Canyon. While this attack did not kill many indians, the Army did destroy their camp and take 1500 horses, helping to force the indians back on the reservations. It meant that the indians had no place to hide, that the soldiers would pursue them wherever they went. This was one of the last major battles of the indian wars.

A visit from Tim, then heading for Texas

Tim came down for the weekend. His nominal reason for the visit was to help Dennis fix his car. But he also wanted to see his mom and his brother. We had a nice lunch with Tim, Dennis, and Judy on Sunday. Ron, Ari, Erica, and Ari's friend Domenic also joined us. Marianne fixed meatloaf and cole slaw.

On Monday, Richard voted early, and we hit the road about noon. Highway 287 goes from Denver to Fort Worth, so all we needed to do was stay on 287. Once we got past Denver, the landscape changed to the empty plains, beautiful if austere. Highway 287 has been rebuilt as a major truck route, so is in very good condition. About half the vehicles were large trucks.

We stopped around 4:30 at a "Campground and Horse Motel" in Lamar, after driving a little more than 200 miles. We plan to drive to the Amarillo area on Tuesday, and stay in the historic and scenic Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
The kayak will be used later in the trip, when Richard attends the paddlefest in Corpus Christi.