We left LYJO on March 2 and spent two nights on the road. Luckily, we had an uneventful drive and arrived home on March 4.
Yes, we could see snow on the mountains as we approached the Rockies, but our home was nice and warm, and we didn’t have to worry about freezing pipes.
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| Getting Close to Home |
When Tim and I decided to go to Texas to escape the cold Colorado winter, we knew that we might encounter a few chilly days. This part of Texas is not Arizona or Florida. What we never expected, however, were three extended cold spells with sub-freezing temperatures, ice storms, and snow.
While we will remember our time at LYJO for the interesting project, we will never be able to forget how cold we were for much of our stay.
After finally securing propane on New Year’s Day, Tim and I continued to experience challenges on the home front. We had several nights below freezing, which is never fun, and the park’s water pump for our area went out. That meant that we had virtually no water pressure. So much for using our nearby washing machine.
On one of the coldest nights, we even lost power. Luckily, power was restored in a few hours, but we began to wonder what would go wrong next. We went to headquarters on Sunday to take showers, and mine barely drained, leading to overflowing water. Trying to use the washer/dryer at the other volunteer campground was also frustrating since the washer took forever, and the dryer did not dry.
We thought that our fortune had turned around on the weekend of January 14-16. A new water pump was installed, and we now had plenty of water and could use the washing machine. We went into Fredericksburg to get propane in anticipation of more freezing weather.
We can handle a night or two of freezing temperatures in our RV as long as the daytime temperatures rise above freezing. It’s not that we will be too cold inside. Our propane furnace and electric heater are relatively efficient. Our systems, however, cannot handle days of extended periods that remain below 32°. Our water pipes would simply freeze and burst.
Over the next five weeks, we were “treated” to three periods of extended freezing temperatures. We debated our options and decided that we would check into a hotel. First, we would have to winterize the RV, but finding RV antifreeze was no easy task. Once more, Tractor Supply came to our rescue.
We ended up winterizing and de-winterizing the RV three different times. We also spent 13 nights at La Quinta in Fredericksburg. Our volunteer gig became quite costly.
The weather was so bad that schools and the park were closed for two days. Freezing rain, snow, and cold! Not what we were expecting!
In between the bouts of cold, the weather was lovely. We just wish there had been many more of those lovely days.
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| Brrrr!!! |
Tim and I enjoyed our work at LYJO, but my absolute favorite experience came in mid-February, when the cows started giving birth. The calves were so cute, so adorable! And the mothers were so protective. I just loved driving around the Ranch, looking for the babies.
Living among all the cows was so much fun for me. It was cool when some of them would come to visit us. They would just stop and stare at us from the other side of the fence at our campsite.
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| I Loved the Cows and Calves |
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| Deer, Pronghorn, and an Armadillo |
I’ve been visiting quite a few state capitols lately, and I didn’t want to miss the Texas capitol while we were here. I had already made a few trips to Austin for service for the Subaru and for a few errands, but there never seemed to be time for playing tourist. Finally, I set aside a Sunday and made the drive.
I was surprised to find that the building was designed by Elijah E. Meyers, the same architect who designed Colorado’s capitol. Constructed from 1882 to 1888, it is the sixth tallest state capitol building.
As always, I enjoyed gazing upwards at the interior of the dome. I was also interested in the terrazzo floor that features the six seals of the countries whose flags have flown over Texas.
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| Texas State Capitol |
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| Inside the Dome |
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| The Six Seals of the Countries Whose Flags Have Flown over Texas |
Jeanne, the conservator hired by LYJO, arrived for a two-week work session, and we began the job of cleaning and packing the multitude of items in the Texas White House. We started with the ceramics and learned the proper conservation techniques for handling these items.
Jack had arrived with Jeanne, and I was in awe of the secure way he packed some of the most fragile items. I learned how to wrap the plates and then moved on to wrapping Mrs. Johnson’s costume jewelry. In the meantime, Tim was cleaning and packing all the framed photographs that had hung throughout the house, as well as searching for answers to any questions about the catalog record.
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| Wrapping Plates and Jewelry with Jack |
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| Cleaning and Wrapping Framed Items and Playing Computer Guru |
I also spent much of my time photographing those items that had never been photographed for the catalog record. Then, in order to create a snapshot of how the house looked before being packed away, I photographed each room from all angles.
Photographing Items from the Texas White House 
Photographing Individual Rooms
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| Tim, Niki, and Sarah (and Mrs. Johnson) |
Tim and I had previously visited the LBJ Ranch when we spent several months in nearby Kerrville while full-timing in our RV. Since we’ll be working here, we wanted to take the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with this historic property.
The LBJ Ranch is where LBJ was born, lived, died, and was buried. Mrs. Johnson continued to live here part-time after the President’s death in 1973.
Two of the major buildings at the Ranch include the Texas White House, where we will be spending much of our time, and the former hanger, which is now the visitor center. Other buildings are scattered throughout the property.
The Ranch is still a working ranch, and I believe it is still one of only two National Park units with that distinction. We loved having the cows among us.
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| The Texas White House |
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| The Hanger |
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| Air Force One-Half |
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| Reconstructed Birthplace |
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| Grandparents' Farmhouse |
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| Who Are You Looking At! - We Have the Right-of-Way |
We started work at LYJO on January 3, after several orientations/ briefings at headquarters. Our first project was to photograph approximately 82 hats and their boxes. These were hats that LBJ gave away as gifts, and the boxes are on display in the visitor center at the ranch.
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| "The Giving President" |
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| Examples of Our Work Product |
We are working at the LBJ Ranch, where our campsite is located, and the Secret Service Command Post is our “office.” The staff has been great, especially Niki, the Museum Technician whom we will be working with most closely.
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| Secret Service Command Post - Our Office |
After a great two days of settling into our site at LYJO, things began to fall apart. We knew that freezing overnight temperatures were predicted, but we were not prepared. Our propane supply was low, and it was forecast to be below freezing for two nights, so we had to conserve. Our little electric heater could not keep up, and it was so very, very cold in the RV overnight.
We knew we had to get propane the next morning, but it was Sunday, and most places were closed. I called and found a Tractor Supply about 45 minutes away, and we headed there. I almost cried when they told me that they had sold out 30 minutes before we arrived. We scrambled to find another place, even farther away. We were eventually successful but ended up driving 154 miles altogether. What was to have been a relaxing Sunday turned out to be anything but that.
We arrived at LYJO on Friday morning and were shown to the LBJ Ranch VIP campground, where we had our choice of three sites. What a nice setting, with mature trees and not much around except deer and cows. There is even a separate building with a washer and dryer and a refrigerator for our use. Those are very nice perks! Now, if we only had a shower, we’d really be set!
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| LYJO - Our Home for the Next Two Months |
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| Our Volunteer RV Site at the LBJ Ranch |
Since the RV was still winterized, we had way more to do to set up than usual. We had a few challenges, but eventually everything worked out. We decided to finish the rest of the chores tomorrow. I’m glad we have three days off before we must report to work on January 3.
Tim and I were very proud of ourselves with all that we accomplished on New Year’s Eve. We finished all the chores around the RV, Tim repaired a few things and installed the tool bag, I went back to Walmart for groceries and supplies, and I cleaned the shed with the washer and dryer. It was a productive day.
I never stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve, but I made an exception this year. At the stroke of midnight, Tim and I made a valiant effort to eat 12 grapes each, a Cuban good luck tradition. The grapes were huge, so we didn’t quite make it, but I think we should still reap a bit of good luck anyway. I had purchased a pair of yellow underwear at Walmart, and I wore those for prosperity. We have the rest of our good luck foods for tomorrow’s dinner.
It was windy morning when we left Albuquerque on Tuesday, headed east and then southeast towards Texas. We also encountered a bit of blowing snow as we crossed the east slope of the Sandia Mountains, but the drive was mostly uneventful.
We crossed the state line into Texas and were surprised by the amount of cotton that had been planted there. We lost an hour as we crossed into the Central Time Zone, but we still made it to Lubbock by 5:00 pm.
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| Welcome to Texas |
Tim and I managed to get the house ready to go, we packed the RV, and we were ready to head south.
We planned to break up our drive to Albuquerque with an overnight in Trinidad, Colorado. The drive was mostly uneventful, although it was quite windy. When we arrived at La Quinta, the front desk staff gave us the keys to two rooms. I had only booked one room. We all joked that I had decided to put Tim in his own room, but I relented and let him share mine. We had a lot of fun with that.
I had always wanted to visit Santa Fe at Christmas, and I had always wanted to stay at La Fonda, one of the original Harvey Houses established by the Fred Harvey Company in 1922. On this visit, I was able to check both wishes off my list.
The weather was beautiful when we arrived in Santa Fe. We first went to the New Mexico State Capitol since I am trying to visit as many capitols as possible. New Mexico’s was beautiful and totally different from any other. It is the only round state capitol in the United States and was designed to resemble the Zia sun symbol when viewed from above.
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| New Mexico State Capitol |
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| New Mexico State Capitol |
We asked if we could park the RV in the visitor lot overnight to avoid paying the $50 fee at the lot near the hotel. The staff members were so helpful and graciously said that would be just fine.
We checked into La Fonda, and I enjoyed exploring the historic hotel. We ventured out to walk around the plaza area and admired the Christmas decorations. A New Mexico tradition is to line the adobe walls of the century-old buildings with thousands of farolitos. What a beautiful sight!
La Fonda 
Who Is that Masked Man? - Tim and the La Fonda Gingerbread House
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| Palace of the Governors |
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| Saint Francis Cathedral |
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| Santa Fe Plaza |
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| Santa Fe Plaza |
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| Santa Fe Railyard |
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| New Mexico Rail Runners at the Santa Fe Railyard |
Way back in October, Tim and I debated what we might like to do for Christmas. Tim suggested that we spend several days in Albuquerque, and that sounded like a great idea to me. We booked five nights at the Hotel Albuquerque and looked forward to spending time with friends Ruth and Lou.
Several days after making that decision, I learned that Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park (LYJO) was advertising for an intern to work with the museum collection. The park is getting ready to rehabilitate the Texas White House, and all items must be removed from the house, evaluated, cleaned, and stored.
I fired off an email to the museum curator, asking if she might be interested in two volunteers who could help with the project. Nancy responded the next day and was thrilled with our offer. We talked with her, confirmed that an RV site was available, and made arrangements to come to LYJO after our time in Albuquerque.
Our plan was to drive the RV and the Subaru to Albuquerque and then on to Texas. I had hoped to do a day trip to Santa Fe while we were in Albuquerque, but at the last minute, we decided to leave a day early and spend one night in Santa Fe on the way.
Tim and I had started December with major dental work. Tim had five crowns, and I had one. He kept singing, “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,” and he got them! I also got the ok for a crown on my new implant, but there wasn’t time for that one before leaving for Christmas.
We decided not to decorate for Christmas since we were leaving on December 21, figuring we could enjoy decorations New Mexico style.
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| A Gorgeous December Sunset from Our Balcony |
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| Just Gorgeous! |
