Week One Done!

Well, we've been on the road a whole week, but it just doesn't seem that long! I guess that old adage, "time flies when you're having fun," is further accelerated by the older one gets.

We had a Mexican breakfast (most excellent!) at a downtown Fredericksburg cafe, where I spilled a bunch of orange juice all over the table, front picture window, and my treasured 10-gallon cowboy hat (when in Rome....), in an attempt to annihilate a pesky fly. I proudly admit to be a successful fly killer, but the collateral damage was by all accounts too much. Heck even my cowboy boots got splashed. Forty pounds of paper napkins later everything was almost back to normal, accept that my cowboy hat which would need some tender loving care to restore it to it's rightful glory.

After breakfast Marianne couldn't wait to shop the entire downtown area of Fredericksburg, something that no self respecting cowboy could long endure, so we said our merry goodbyes, she went shopping with a huge grin on her face, and I walked across the street to the National Museum of the Pacific War.

You'd think a museum with such an impressive name in such a little town yet so far from any ocean would be a bust, but no, this place is phenomenal! It covers the entire history of the Pacific Theater from Japan's rise from a feudal state in the 19th century to the dropping of the atomic bombs to end WWII. Pictures, movies, artifacts, displays, and more are enough to practically numb the senses of the viewer. I spent three hours in this one block square of interconnected buildings and outside exhibits. I could have spent even more time there. If you get out this way, you've got my wholehearted recommendation.

The real reason this museum exists where it does is because Chester William Nimitz  (February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was a native son of Fredericksburg, and served as the last surviving Fleet Admiral of the United States Navy. He held the dual command of Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CinCPac), for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPOA), for U.S. and Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II. He was the leading U.S. Navy authority on submarines, as well as Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Navigation in 1939. He served as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) from 1945 until 1947. He assumed his command at Pearl Harbor within a couple of weeks after the Japanese attack and was also the ranking U.S. military commander, along with Douglas MacArthur, at their surrender aboard the battleship Missouri.

Just a few of the exhibits at the National Museum of the Pacific War

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I rewarded myself for letting Marianne shop so long without me, by having a yogurt and then purchasing some replica advertising signs. I tried calling Marianne, but evidently she had turned off the ringer on her phone, shopping has its priorities. So, I drove to the local Wal*Mart to pick-up some supplies, and while I was there she returned my call and let me know what groceries I also had to buy.

I picked her up in the downtown area with shopping bags in both hands and that huge grin still on her face. She was so grateful that I let her go all by herself to ALL the stores in town. She probably walked three miles hitting all thosee stores only missing those that were too foolish to close their doors on a Sunday when Marianne was in town. . .

We returned to the trailer and the dogs, excitedly retelling our tales of the day, and showing each other what we had purchased, at least I think I saw everything that Marianne bought...

After resting, eating dinner, and reading our email, I learned that we should go to Luckenbach, TX, just 10 miles down the road, from our friend Karen Truesdell Schneider who I grew up with in my hometown of Tripp. She was right, this place is an American icon.

Only about five buildings make up this town with a proclaimed population of 3. It has a post office but that closed in 1971 and is now a general store with the front area selling all sorts of Luckenbach memorabilia and in back a bar, of course. Outside behind the bar were five fellars pickin' and a singin' their songs with people sitting on long tables drinking their favorite beer and enjoyin' the show.

I had to get a Luckenbach T-shirt, and we sucked down a beer while listening to these really good musicians. The store closed a 9pm and the music ended, so we headed back to our RV site satisfied that we experienced a great slice of Americana.

Luchenbach, Texas
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