June 19, 2016

June 19, 2016

This morning we drove from Waco, TX to College Station, home of Texas A & M University. On the campus is the George H. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, our 13th and final library. We were actually here before in 2013, in the parking lot, but because of the government shutdown we were stymied and not allowed entry.  

The elder Bush’s library is night and day different from W’s yesterday.  While 43’s was all events, 41’s is mostly about his life.  And what a life he had. Athlete, war hero, oil man, congressman, UN ambassador, party chairman, China envoy, CIA chief, VP to Reagan, President, father of President, and elderly parachutist.  Wow.  He might have been the most prepared President ever.  With all that and a huge approval rating, how could he not get reelected!!!  His Presidential exhibits had a little about the fall of the Berlin wall and lots on Operation Desert Storm to free Kuwait. I remember that 100-hour war vividly.  Overall the library was outstanding and way better than 43’s

From College Station, we continued south.  In the town of La Grange, we made a brief stop at Monument Hill State Park.  It is near closing time so I made quick run to the large monument on the bluff overlooking Texas’ Colorado River.  After Texas defeated the Mexican army under Santa Ana and gained independence, Mexico again invaded Texas several years later.  This continuing conflict motivated Texas to join the US.   This memorial is dedicated to the Texans who lost their life in the post-Alamo battles.

We stopped for the night in the town of Victoria, TX