Texas Hill Country

Took a long drive today into the Texas Hill Country. Our campground is at the east end of the hill country, so we just headed west. We got to Johnson City, boyhood home of LBJ, and stopped to tour it. Pretty interesting. They were one of the few families to have running water in their home - and it was done by a windmill system! The National Park Service has also preserved the original Johnson Settlement in Johnson City which was started by LBJ's grandparents. Got some good pictures.

Then we continued west and went past the LBJ State & National Historical Parks. These include a living history farm and LBJ's ranch. We didn't stop to tour because you had to take their trolley and it took 2.5 hours to tour. We had Blackie with us and it was getting later in the afternoon, so we marked that down to do the next time we were in this area.

Another half hour west found us in Fredericksburg. There is a very strong German heritage in the Texas Hill Country, and it is evident here in Fredericksburg. Very quaint town with lots of unique shops, many of which have a German flavor. We did take a tour of the Pioneer Museum. This was the home of one of the original German settlers in the area - Henry Kammlah. The original structure was built in 1849 and was added to as his family and their needs grew. Other structures on the site were brought in from other areas, but they are all original structures. Sure makes you grateful for our technology!! One of the coolest things we saw in the museum is the Peace Treaty document that was agreed to between the German settlers and the Comanche Nation. This was brouight about because of the vision of one of the German settlers' leaders, John Meusebach. He knew they would never survive unless they could come to a peace agreement with the tribe. In the followig 150+ years, the treaty was never broken by either side. This allowed five million acres of land to be colonized in Central Texas. Pretty amazing!!!

We really like this area. Going into another historical German town tomorrow, Gruene (pronounced "greene"). Then on to San Antonio Monday & Tuesday.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. These are just a few of what we took today. If you want to see more, go to our website where we've posted all of the pictures. http://community.webshots.com/user/guiler85/0

Take care!! We love you all.