Aggies, GHWB, and Friends

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I posted a blog. During our week in Livingston we gave Opus a much needed wash and wax, so he is nice and clean until we have to drive in the rain. Before we left Livingston we had a few repair issues taken care of; a new pump for the washer, a new valve on the toilet, replaced a light fixture and the faucet for the bathroom sink. We then moved to College Station where we toured Texas A&M, the George Bush Museum and spent time with John and Sharon. Before leaving there we had a leaking air suspension valve replaced. Hope this is the last repair for a while. 

Livingston is a culinary wasteland, so we ate at home more that week than we had in the last two months at Betty's. Nanc outdid herself with a close copy of the Abshire's shrimp salad, a great pasta puttanesca dish, a chicken salad for me and a wonderful roasted cauliflower pizza. Makes me think we should be eating at home more often, even if it means I have a lot of dishes to wash.

John graduated from Texas A&M and then worked there for 35 years, so he and Sharon were able to give us the grand tour of the campus and College Station. 

We learned a lot about the school and its many traditions. Top is "Howdy" grown in a flowerbed to celebrate the friendliness of the Aggies and a brick honoring John for the years he worked at the rec center. Bottom is a statue of Lawrence Sullivan Ross who is credited with saving the school in the 1880's. He tutored students for a penny, so students now put pennies at the base for good luck when taking finals. A couple students must have been in real trouble, as there was a can of beans, a package of Ramen noodles and a dollar bill. Middle is a statue of a cadet which honors the school's military background. A&M sends more students into the military than any school other than the service academies. There are 25,000 cadets in the corps. Right is the Twelve Man statue showing the spirit of the student body at sporting events which originated at A&M.   

Another tradition says that if you walk under the old oak with a girl you have to propose. John always avoided that area when he was a student, but here he is asking for Sharon's hand in marriage. The ring is another cool tradition. When seniors order their school rings, they have their picture taken inside this giant ring. A&M is a huge campus being the second largest public university in the country, so we were glad we had a personal tour from a proud Aggie. 

We have added presidential libraries to our to do list, so we went to tour the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center in College Station. The museum part of the center is dedicated to the life and service of the 41st president.

A photo of first lady Barbara Bush who was just laid to rest here the week before we visited. It was interesting being here after we had just watched the events of her funeral.

George Bush's legacy of public service is very long and involved, working in the government in many different jobs from the beginning of WWII and continuing long after leaving the office of president.

The president's limo.

As soon as George Bush turned 18 he signed up and became a naval aviator. He flew the TBM Avenger and was on the aircraft carrier San Jacinto. In September 1944 his plane was shot down near Chicho Jima, a small island 700 miles from Tokyo. His two crew mates were killed and he was rescued by the submarine Finback. His rescue was filmed by a member of the sub's crew who I am sure had no idea he was filming a future president. Here is the link to YouTube of that rescue.  After he was returned to the San Jacinto, he continued to fly missions until 1944 when he was assigned to Norfolk as a trainer. He was awarded three Air Medals for his military service.

George married Barbara Pierce on January 6, 1945, the beginning of a life together that lasted 73 years until her recent passing. They broke the record for the longest married presidential couple in 1999.

After the war George went to Yale and graduated in two and a half years. He was the captain of the baseball team where he met Babe Ruth when Ruth presented the original manuscript of his autobiography to Yale. Very Cool!!

For graduation George's father bought him a new red Studebaker. He took his family to Midland, Texas where he learned the oil business and started his own offshore drilling company. It was here that he became involved in politics as a Republican in deep blue Democrat Texas. He ran for the U.S. Senate and lost before being elected to the House in 1967, serving two terms.

In 1971 he was appointed by President Nixon as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. We had a little talk about his time in the UN and he told me he loved meeting people from around the world to learn about their culture.

In 1973 he became the Chair of the Republican National Committee. This was a tough time to be the chair and convincing people they should vote for the party following the Watergate scandal.    

In 1974 he became Chief of the U. S. Liaison Office to the Peoples Republic of China and moved to Peking. This was before the U.S. and China had formal relations. He and Barbara immersed themselves in the Chinese culture, taking language lessons and often riding there bikes like the average Chinese citizens.

In 1976 he was appointed the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency for one year. Over the years starting in 1967, the longest he was out of the government was two months. During these years of service he always had his eye on "the top job".  

In 1980 he ran for that job, President of the United States, but came in second to Ronald Reagan. Reagan selected him to run as his vice president and he served from 1981 to 1989. This exhibit shows the many miles he traveled and some of the gifts he was given by other countries during those years.

After two terms as VP he won the ultimate prize and served one term starting in 1989. While president, he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act and increased spending for education and child care. In 1988 he became a life member of the NRA but resigned that membership after an NRA letter depicted agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as "jack-booted thugs".  

 George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States. Another highlight of his time in office was the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

It seems that every presidential library has this same Oval Office exhibit. I do think it is about time we elect a woman to the highest office in the land.

A piece of the Berlin Wall that divided East and West Germany and came down in November 1989 during the Bush presidency. The falling of the Wall was followed by the fall of the communist countries of Eastern Europe.

Flags of the countries that joined with the United States to defeat the Iraqi forces of Saddam Hussein who had attacked and occupied oil rich Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm started on January 17, 1990 with 4000 bombing runs. On February 24 ground forces attacked and drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait in 100 hours. Bush was criticized by many for not continuing the attack to Baghdad and removing Hussein from power. His response to this was, it would have "incurred incalculable human and political costs.... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq." Really, who knew?     

This is a list of those who gave the last full measure during Operation Desert Storm. The door is a gift from the Kuwaiti people and has the names of all those who were killed. Printed on the brass plate at the bottom of the door is a Kuwaiti proverb which says, "When you give a man the key to your home you are a best and most valued friend, when you give him the door to your home it means he is family."   

One of the worst results of the war was as Iraqi forces were retreating, they set fire to between 600 and 700 oil wells, creating one of the worst ecological disasters in history. It took from February to November to extinguish the fires.

Even though President Bush's popularity was 91% after the Gulf War, in November 1992 he was defeated in his bid for reelection in a three way race against Ross Perot and Bill Clinton. Many blame the poor economy for his defeat. 

There is also a great, special exhibit at the library until January 6, 2019 with live sized models of machines designed by Leonardo da Vinci. This is a very interesting display that has been traveling to various museums around the country.

Statue of George H.W. Bush in the garden of the museum. The beautiful grounds with the many flower beds and small lake are a popular spot for those attending proms and formal dances to have their pictures taken.

The burial site for the Bush family. The stone is the maker for Barbara who just passed away last month. The Bush's daughter Robin, who died in 1953 from leukemia, is also buried here. 

This is our sixth presidential library and we have found them all to be very interesting. We have enjoyed them all, but we especially like the ones of presidents who served during our lifetime. 

We had a great time with John and Sharon in College Station. It is always great to have someone who is familiar with the area to show you around. We got to check out a couple local watering holes and spent a lot of time swapping RV tales. 

We were even invited to their friends' wonderful place in the country on this beautiful lake. It was an afternoon of cornhole, horseshoes and a great meal of burgers and fish.

Here are John, Sharon, Gary, Anne, (who invited us) Rose and Darrel hanging out.  We sure thank them for their hospitality.  As we always say, making friends on the road is the best thing about our lifestyle.

We were happy that Texas Customs was able to complete the repair of the air suspension valve on Monday at a very reasonable price. Our original plan was to leave College Station on Monday, but since the repair was not done until the afternoon, we spent one more night. 

We are now in Hill Country between Austin and Fredericksburg for a week of exploring a very interesting area.