Two Dollars A Day

Photos and thoughts from the past and present and dreams about the future.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Early Monday morning, I took off from Austin, heading out to Johnson City and beyond to meet up with Interstate 10 and continue heading West. My goal at the end of the day was El Paso.

Another full day in Texas was in front of me.

Why does Texas have to be so huge? Why can't they just divide it up into North, South, East, and West? Heck, they could throw a "New Texas" and "Central Texas" in there too, just for good measure.

Anyway, I got to Johnson City pretty early, but decided to stop and check out the LBJ birthplace and park. It was not open yet when I arrived, but I took the opportunity to walk around the park grounds and walk a small distance on a trail. After entertaining myself for a bit, the park opened and I walked through the exhibits about his life and times.

I do love history, but when I think about my country during this century, I think that no other decade must have been so turbulent, strange, and exciting as the 1960s. So many social and political changes going on all over the world. I listen to people who were alive during those times talk about it, and it just seems so moving. People responded to things with passion, whereas I tend to think today we get more apathy than anything else. Where are our young people? Why are they not so called into action like those from that generation? I don't get it.

So, this time period already inspires me, and LBJ specifically so for his desire for social change and social justice. Viet Nam tends to overshadow his entire Presidency, and I think that on the homefront he did try to make a difference to the poorest in this country, and for that, I respect him.

Since it was so incredibly early, I basically got a personalized tour everywhere I went. To his home as a young man, I was taken around room by room and saw that he did indeed have quite a nice upbringing, certainly not similar to that of his running mate JFK, but certainly nicer than a lot of people, I can assume. He grew up without much indoor plumbing (while there is an outhouse, the family did have an indoor tub connected to water) or any electricity. That is actually one of the first things that he did as an elected official--to bring electricity to the population in Texas's hill country. Because of this, the house was more light and airy than ones made today, and doors seemed to lead all over the place with the dining room being the center for the household.

Further down the road, you can head to the LBJ Ranch or as it is also known, the Texas White House. Newly acquired by the National Parks, little by little they are opening up the home to reflect the time that LBJ lived there and used it as his home away from home while President. There I also got a private tour of the office, which is currently the only room open to the public. It was still so neat and such a different experience than going to a home of someone who lived centuries ago. He had telephones everywhere (apparently LBJ loved gadgets) and typewriters and televisions. It was interesting listening to the Ranger describe what it was like for LBJ and how his staff and cabinet worked while at the Ranch. In addition, he said that after the assassination of JFK, new security measures were taken to protect Johnson at the Ranch, which was a security nightmare since there were not fences and miles and miles of acres to patrol.

In addition, laying the wires for the phones (remember, this is during the height of the Cold War, so he needed the power to push a button if need be) clear out to Austin and back. The Ranger said that they still will be digging and come across wires just all over the place.

Since the death of Lady Bird, they have taken over the whole house and will open more rooms over the next few years.

After exploring all that I could, I continued my drive west on I-10. The hill country was quite striking and made for an incredibly pleasant trip--well that and the fact that NOBODY was on the road. The further I got out, the larger the mountains became and the more scrubby the landscape. While it was still daylight, I passed through El Paso and decided to keep going to make it into New Mexico. One thing that I did notice, driving through El Paso, was a large Mexican flag over to my left. Mexico is *that* close.

I ended my day in Deming, New Mexico as it was getting dark. New Mexico's topography differed from Texas in that the mountains got fewer and turned into little singular hills. Still interesting to look at, but definitely not as pretty.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Fourth Leg

Texas, Texas, Texas.

I think that it's hard not to love Texas. A state that is larger than all countries in Europe and has it's own culture, mentality, and state of being.

I took off early from Old Boston and headed as fast as I could to Austin--where I was going to stay with a friend from Peace Corps and we would meet up with several other friends from Ukraine.

I got there relatively easy, although I still don't know what the heck I passed on the way into Dallas--a long bridge over some sort of lake, which I can only assume was man-made?? I have no idea. And Dallas has a drive named after the Ewings. Can you believe that? I have never seen a highway, boulevard, etc, named after a fictional television character. Bart Simpson Boulevard, anyone?

Arriving in Austin, I was exhausted but ready to hang. Had a great time catching up with folks and was taken to a huge restaurant where I ate something along the lines of fritos and chili. It was actually good, although I was initially... disgusted.

Ah. Texas.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library and Park, Little Rock, Arkansas





Crossing the Mississippi!




Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Graceland Photos



The Mansion:


Because a man can never have too many white jumpsuits:




Or gold lame suits:


Or fabric covered billiard rooms:


R.I.P. Elvis:

The Third Leg: The day of firsts and fun!

Leaving Nashville in the morning, I continued my way west. After a few hours, I stopped at my first tourist destination: Graceland. I can't say that I am huge fan of Elvis Presley or anything, but shoot, I don't know how anyone who goes to Graceland can't be somewhat impressed by the "King." Or at least the kitsch surrounding the place.

Tons of fifties style gift shops, diners, and Elvis music blaring all over the place. It was hard not to get caught up with all of it. Elvis and his family are buried on the property as well, so it sort of has a wacky sacred feeling about it--at least for those who might consider themselves followers of the King. There is a complete devotion to the positive attributes of Elvis only: his generosity, his music, his playfulness--not those things that people like myself, who have only heard about his addiction and weight gain know. Actually, there was not one shot there of Elvis where he looked unattractive or strung out. And no real mention of his death. And no, we aren't allowed to go upstairs and view the spot where he died.

At any rate, I am glad that I went and definitely enjoyed my visit.

This day, besides Graceland, was a day of pretty cool firsts for me: Travelling west from Nashville I spotted fields of fluffy white, which I took to be cotton. Other than viewings of "Gone With the Wind," I don't think that I've ever *seen* cotton before. After leaving Memphis, I immediately crossed the Mississippi River, something I've only flown over before. And of course, while crossing the river, I passed into the state of Arkansas, a state that I had never been to before--the first new one of the 10 total states that I passed through to that point (Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas).

My next stop was to head to Little Rock and check out President Bill Clinton's Presidential Library. Since writing my thesis some years ago, I have wanted to visit this place and check it out. My thesis dealt with AmeriCorps, the program that Bill Clinton helped to start and so many of the documents relating to the program are housed here in the library. Unfortunately it was closed by the time I got there, but I got an opportunity to check out the neat architectural building (which it is pretty cool looking) and use the Porto potty outside (although the University of Arkansas Bill Clinton School of Public Policy had a ton of urinals just laying on the ground outside of the building--I have no idea if that is a maintenance issue or a political statement?) and head through town.

I had been warned that Little Rock was not a whole lot to see, but I dug it driving around and trying to find my way back to the interstate. I asked several people for directions, and they were incredibly friendly and 'ma'am'ed me tons. It was humorous, but I certainly appreciated the uber-politeness of these folks and the cleaned up look to their downtown area. I could see how someone like Hillary could get by in a town like that.

Further on down the road, when it was time to get gas, I kept up the Clinton theme by stopping in Hope, the birthplace of William Jefferson Clinton. It was dark, but I decided to just take a drive through town.

It didn't take long. Main Street may have been half a block. The Clinton Visitor Center is an old Train Station/Depot. Never did find the house.

At the end of the day, I came to rest my head in New Boston, over 1000 miles away from the old Boston that I knew, and in Texas to boot!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Second Leg

On Friday morning (October 3rd) (I decided to stay and watch the much anticipated debates on Thursday) I left for Nashville, over a mere 800 miles away. The trip was long, and made even longer by frequent potty stops. The scenery was beautiful though, and kept me going. Passing through the rolling hills of farmland Pennsylvania, I was cognitiscent that it would be a long time before I saw them again.

I went through Maryland and West Virginia in a flash, but spent most of my day down Interstate 81, following Shennadoh most of the way. I have taken that route before, many years ago, when I was a VISTA at Lasell and took a group of girls on a trip to Rural Retreat, Virginia. Years before that, a group visited a high school friend for his birthday at VA Tech. The mountains there remind me only of Scotland and it is no surprise that many Scots found there way to those hills hundreds of years ago and never went any further.

Finally, after literally hours of driving, I made my way into Tennessee and drove across the state encountering more and more traffic until I was in Nashville and at my destination. It had been over 13 hours on the road and I was just zonked. Thankfully, my host was kind enough to have some vittles ready by the time that I rolled up.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

The First Leg

On Monday I left Massachusetts and headed home to Pennsylvania. I was incredibly fortunate that the first glimpses of autumn have begun in New England, which made for a quite visually pleasing drive. I am aware that this is probably the last fall that I will get to see until who knows when as the desert does not have much of a transition between seasons, and certainly not the same variety of colors for the fall.

On Tuesday I got to visit one of my childhood haunts, Ocean City, NJ and visit with a dear friend from school and her wonderful family. The trip out was beautiful as well, with bridges skimming over the marshes--complete with long-legged birds, and again, the fall colors made it all quite a pretty picture. Stops at Mack~Manco's pizza, Shrivers, and Richman's on the way home made the whole day complete.

Today was spent doing errands, stopping at the bank, AAA, etc and inquiring to new colleagues about things like housing and other relocation questions. I am eager to get started...

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