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.