This museum, located in Edinburg, Texas, chronicles the history of South Texas and Northeastern Mexico.
Museum of South Texas History, in Edinburg, Texas
The building lobby is beautifully and stunningly decorated in Spanish-Colonial style architecture, ornamental tiles, metal railings and furnishings.
Museum of South Texas History Lobby
The story begins on the second floor. Like the Rio Grande River, the museum flows through history from room to room beginning with ancient plant and animal fossils and a magnificent replica of a Mammoth skeleton. These exhibits tell the story of the Rio Grande Legacy with artifacts and multimedia. Spanish colonial artifacts, pioneer life, the cattle kingdom, and steamboat days are some of the things you’ll learn about in the interactive displays.
Mammoth skeleton
Early Spanish wooden cart
Indian display and Steamboat theater
Chuckwagon for cattle drives
Downstairs the story continues with a replica train station, irrigation history, horse and buggy, war history and ending in the post-WWII displays. Across the courtyard from the main building is the 1910 jail and the Will Looney Legacy Park with sculptures, windmill and a pathway through native plants.
Horse and buggy transportation
My favorite thing about this museum is imagining what life would be like in this area many years ago. Without electricity, running water and motorized transportation, life would be incredibly hard. Yet, there were people who dared to make a life here and left their mark behind. During this time, we were also listening to Robert Caro’s book called “The Years of Lyndon B. Johnson, Volume I”. The beginning of this book chronicles much of the early history of Texas pioneers. It is fascinating.
We took our Airstream for some minor repairs near Kerrville, Texas. We heard about Stonehenge II and decided to drive a few miles out to Ingram, Texas, to see it. Situated in the middle of the 13.5 acre Hill Country Arts Foundation’s Campus, this is a totally man-made (even the stones) smaller-scale reproduction of the one in Salisbury, England.
It all started in 1989 when Doug Hill finished work on his back patio in Hunt, Texas. He had one big extra limestone slab left over. As a joke, he offered it to his neighbor, Al Sheppard. Al stood the slab upright in the middle of his pasture. Doug and Al then built an arch around it. It reminded them of Stonehenge in England. A vision formed and Sheppard contracted Hill to build his very own Stonehenge II. Later, Sheppard added two Moai head statues after visiting Easter Island. After Sheppard passed away, Stonehenge II was donated to the Hill Country Arts Foundation and moved to its current home in 2012.
Ray was suffering from allergies that day, so I took a walk around the site and visited the Gift Shop in the Visitor Center. The Art Gallery was closed, so our visit was short. By then, we got a call that our Airstream was ready to go, so we headed back to pick it up. Instead of heading back to our campsite near Medina Lake, we decided to head away from the cedar trees and the pollen that was making Ray so miserable. Our campsite that night was in Seguin, TX, near the Guadalupe River.
The Guadalupe River was a beautiful calm river complete with lily pads.
As the sun started setting, we were treated to some amazing beauty.
About an hour’s drive northwest of San Antonio, is Lake Medina Campground. Our first campsite was in among the cedar trees. Big mistake! We didn’t know that December and January are the two worst months of the year for “cedar fever”, an allergic reaction many people have to the pollen that blows off the trees during that time of year. We moved to another campsite where there were less trees, but Ray still had terrible allergies from the pollen.
Our campsite among the cedar trees, Lake Medina, TX.
The lake itself is a blue shimmering gem among the rocky hills surrounding it, being situated in the Hill country of Texas.
Lake Medina
One day I took a walk near the shoreline and found an old rock chimney, all that remains of an old house.
Old Chimney
On the grounds are other old structures of bygone days—a two storied house and an old barn. The deer are so tame that they hardly move when you walk toward them. It is illegal to feed them, but I have a feeling that one reason they are so tame is that they have become accustomed to being hand fed by the campers. One buck loitered near our campsite and I got a good photo of him.
One afternoon, we decided to take a drive to San Antonio. Ray wanted to see the house where he spent his childhood days on Frost Street. They lived there when he was ages 3 to 4. When the family moved away, they rented the house out. They came back several times in between renters to fix it up and add some fresh paint. His last year spent there was when he was 12 years old. The house looks much smaller now, than in his memories. He remembered the big pecan tree in the back yard. It has a massive trunk now and it towers over the houses around it. They returned when he was 11, and his dad painted it turquoise blue with gloss black window trim and a coral orange front door. It became more sedate sometime after they sold it.
Ray’s childhood home on Frost Street
Ray’s childhood home with pecan tree in the back yard.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was featured in Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives by Guy Fieri (Dewese’s Tip Top Cafe). The Roasted Pork Butt with Gravy was delicious, but I really wished we’d ordered a big plate of their homemade Onion Rings.
Our other major goal of the day was to visit the McNay Art Museum. We got confused about where the entrance was and so took a nice walk along the banks of the river. After we found the entrance, we realized we should come back another day when we had more time, which is what we did.
Walk by River in San Antonio
The McNay museum is housed in a 24 room Spanish Colonial Revival-style mansion of Marion Koogler McNay. She was an American painter and art teacher who inherited her father’s oil fortune. The museum is named after her. When she died, the house was bequeathed to the City of San Antonio to house the museum. Most of the art is from the 19th and 20th century European and American art by impressionists like Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keefe and Mary Cassatt. My favorite was “The Cup of Tea” by Mary Cassatt, along with many other paintings of Mary Cassatt’s women showing the every day life of women of that period.
Mary Cassatt’s “The Cup of Tea”
One of the paintings by Mary Cassatt was done in pastel on paper called “Head of Simone in a Large Plumed Hat, Looking Right”. I thought this painting would be of interest to my daughter Christy who loves to work in pastels.
One of my other favorite paintings was the Yellow and Blue Iris by Lowell Nesbitt. I thought it was by Georgia O’Keefe at first because it reminds me of her large paintings of flowers.
“Yellow and Blue Iris” by Lowell Nesbit
Also in the museum was a large painting by Claude Monet called “Nympheas” (Water Lilies)”. It was Monet’s dream to make paintings that fill a circular room. The paintings were of water lilies from his garden in Giverny, France. The painting we saw was one of the many preliminary studies for the paintings he painted on huge canvas panels that hang in a circular room at the Orangerie des Tuileries in Paris. Monet gave those paintings to the French nation.
As we wandered around the museum, we found ourselves outside in the beautiful interior garden with palm trees and fountains and koi ponds. One fish was monstrous!
Courtyard at McNay Art Museum
Outside the museum were many modern sculptures. By then, we were tired and decided to head home.
Texas has 254 counties. Texas state is so vast that the founders wanted the people to be close to their local governments. By making the counties small, the people could travel back by and forth in a day by horseback or wagon to take care of their business at the local courthouse.
Our stay along the Colorado River (the Texas Colorado River) gave us a chance to visit a couple of these courthouses at Columbus, in Colorado County and at La Grange, in Fayette County.
Columbus, Texas Courthouse
As we walked around the grounds of the Columbus courthouse, we noticed the beautiful stonework of the building. The different colors are different kinds of stone. Although we didn’t go inside the building, there is a Tiffany-style skylight in the dome. Historical accounts say that the original court business was held under an oak tree by Judge Robert M. Williamson (“Three Legged Willie”), before the courthouse was built.
There are other historical buildings close to the courthouse that we visited briefly. On the corner of the courthouse lawn, there is a water tower. It’s now a museum. The old Opera House is still in use today as a performing arts theater. A block or so away is one of the few remaining original carriage steps that people would step on as they got out of their carriages. There’s also an old log cabin that is furnished with period style furnishings within a block or so of the courthouse.
Water Tower
Old Theater
Carriage Step
Log House
A few miles away in Fayette County, we visited La Grange Courthouse. Fayette County was named for Marquis de la Fayette, a Revolutionary War hero. As in most towns, the oldest and most interesting buildings surround the courthouse square. We decided against visiting the Texas Quilt Museum because of our limited time. Perhaps we will save it for another time.
We did, however, take a look inside of the courthouse. What a surprise! Inside was a beautiful sunken garden atrium complete with a large fountain and tropical plants. The current courthouse was built in 1891 in a Romanesque Revival style using four types of Texas stone on the exterior—Belton white limestone, Muldoon blue sandstone, Pecos red sandstone and Burnet granite. Around the hallways of the inside was a small museum of its history including pictures of past court judges.
La Grange Courthouse
Atrium in La Grange Courthouse
Our Colorado River Campground was situated right near the banks of the river. I took several walks and enjoyed the scenery especially in the evening sunsets. This Colorado River is not the same as the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and western states. This is the Texas Colorado. The name means the same—“colored red”.
After a year of thinning down, we sold our home in California on October 3, 2019. We gave away or sold most of our stuff. What’s left is stored in a 10’x20’ storage unit. We started our journey to see America in a 23 year old 23 foot long Jayco trailer pulled by our 13 year old Suburban. We belong to the Thousand Trails Campgrounds, so we spent our first few weeks in their Morgan Hill RV park. There we thinned out our belongings even further. Having collected stuff for 44 years, so it took some time! After saying good-bye to our kids and grandkids, we headed toward Mesa, Arizona.
In Mesa, we bought a used 2016 Chevy Heavy duty diesel truck that met all our criteria for a towing vehicle. It made a wonderful difference towing the trailer up hills and mountains!
Next, we drove to Texas. We belong to the Escapees RV Club located in Livingston, Texas. We use their mailing service that collects our mail, scans it, and ships it to us wherever we are, when we ask. We chose their mailing service because it provided us with a “physical” address which was needed for some documents. We spent Thanksgiving with my dad and sister in Austin, Texas. They kindly took care of our cat while we went to Virginia to buy the Airstream.
Ray was looking for specific things in a used Airstream. He found a 2014 International Signature Airstream that had a feature we really wanted—two recliners instead of a couch. This was an option only from 2011 – 2015. The trailer was in great condition and came with many extras, like an expensive Hensley hitch. The problem was its location, in Virginia near Washington, D.C. We arranged to see it and stored our Jayco trailer in Texas. We hit the road, driving 3 days, staying in motels along the way. The Airstream was just what we were looking for, and we bought it.
We planned to drive across the Midwest states back to Texas, but a big storm system was sweeping the nation, bringing snow and freezing weather. We didn’t want to tow our trailer through that weather, so we changed plans, heading straight south on I-95 to I-10 in Florida. We stopped at various campgrounds along the way, but didn’t stay more than a night or two. By the time we got back to Texas, we needed a rest! Racing cross-country was not what we left California to do.
We spent several days unloading the Jayco and getting it ready to sell, moving everything into the Airstream. We had the Title for the Airstream and got it licensed in Texas, but we are still waiting on the Title for our truck. In Texas, you have to register all your vehicles before you can get Texas driver’s licenses. That was the next item on our list.
We enjoy our 208 square foot home on wheels, but like so many others, we are looking for a home “whose builder and maker is God.” Like the old chorus said, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through…”
At least for us they have. Getting our 30 foot Airstream was our goal. We needed something to travel in to see the USA that would be reliable, sturdy and easy to pull. We were blessed with finding a used 2014 International Signature Airstream. We had to travel to Virginia to get it. But it was worth it. We are really happy with the quality of the craftsmanship of the Airstream line.
Our first stop was to go to Texas where we decided we would change our “domicile” and become Texans. But on the way, we stopped in Arizona and found the right truck for us in Scottsdale. What a difference in pulling a trailer to have a heavy duty diesel truck! It pulled our little Jayco trailer (our first trailer) right up the hills and mountains.
When we arrived in Texas, we found we had to register all our vehicles before we could get our driver’s licenses. But in order to register our truck, we had to have the pink slip. It takes awhile for the DMV to process all that. So we headed off to Virginia to look at the Airstream. We had pretty much made up our minds already, but it didn’t hurt to look. The previous owners were really nice and threw in a bunch of extras.
Looking at the weather on our way out of Virginia, we noticed a real winter storm moving in fast. We had to head straight south to Florida to avoid it. Even so, it got pretty cold for a few days. But finally, we made it back to Texas and warmer weather.
Life seemed to be going along fine, and then, bam! I slipped and fell sideways on my foot and fractured it in two places. “What is going on, God?” I thought. I have so much to do. I can’t deal with a broken foot right now! Then I had some other medical issues with additional doctor appointments, x-rays, ultrasounds, and minor surgeries and so forth. I seem to be falling apart physically.
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
I was trying to remember this verse. I started out thinking, “all things work together for good…” Then I looked it up. I was wrong. I’d missed the most important part. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good…” Yes, God is the important factor that I missed.
I knew that God hadn’t forgotten me. He had been with me every step (or hobble) of the way. I gained a new perspective as I pondered almost daily Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Yes. The Lord is my shepherd. I have the Great Physician/Shepherd guiding me through the rocky ground of my physical problems. I don’t need to be anxious because He will show me the way through. I don’t want for anything because He is my guide and provider. I can be confident that He will provide a way for me so that all my needs and wants are met in Him.
As I pondered all the wonderful phrases of this Psalm, the last phrase also stood out to me. “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life…” Goodness. Lovingkindness. They will follow me all the days of my life. There’s no question in the Psalm writer’s mind. “Surely”, he says. It’s not just hoping, but knowing that this is going to happen. Goodness and lovingkindness are qualities of God. They come from Him. He is the one who brings it about. “God causes…” God is the factor that brings about goodness and lovingkindness when things don’t seem to be working out. “God causes all things to work together for good.” There’s that word “good” again. But it’s not me working it out. It’s God.
The reason the psalmist could say “surely”. “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life” is because he understood that it was God that was going to bring it about.
After 3 long weeks, I graduated from the boot brace to an ankle brace that can be worn with my shoes. I’m beginning to understand that God will use this period of difficulty in my life to bring about more of His goodness in me and in my circumstances. I have another 5 months to go before my foot is entirely healed. In the meantime, I have 5 months to remember it is God who is the one who causes all things to work together for good. I have 5 months to ingrain that word “surely” into my mind so that I know with certainty that goodness and lovingkindness are going to follow me all the days of my life. God is the factor that is the game changer from dwelling in self-pity and depression to living in hope and expectation of His goodness and His lovingkindness.
Patience is one quality that I possess in a very small quantity. A year ago in February, I thought we would be on the road by April or May. It’s now August and we are still here. I think the best way to have patience is to keep busy. I’ve done pretty well at that. Our home never looked better. But along the way I discovered something else.
After doing all the work to put our house on the market, I realized that this would be the last time for a lot of things. And with that realization, I started to be more patient about how long it might take to get on the road. I started snapping pictures of the scenes outside my front window. I saw the sunlight on the distant hills and the clouds change shape and color. I saw amazing sunsets and sometimes early sunrises. I photographed the little house wren family that built a nest in our little bird house in the front yard. This would be the last spring that I would be able to observe them.
As I snapped photos here and there of things I loved about living here, I realized that I had so much to be grateful for. I never appreciated my daffodils, roses and lavender bushes so much. What else had I been missing over the years? I wondered.
Now that we are closer than ever to leaving, I also realize that there are people I might never see again in this life. Being impatient to leave, I didn’t realize that I would probably never see some of them again. We held a church service for the old folk at an assisted living home. These are dear people who smiled joyfully every time we arrived to sing hymns and talk about Jesus. I started to realize what it would mean for them to not have anything to look forward to every Sunday. My patience grew and sometimes my tears flowed with this realization. These last few weeks would be our last ones with these precious souls. We would probably never see them again once we are on the road. Being here all these months longer was a blessing to them and to us, and I didn’t even realize it. What other blessings did I miss?
Now I see that all the things that came in the way to prevent our leaving were blessings and not just lessons on patience. I still don’t have much patience, but I have a lot more beautiful memories because God made our departure take longer than I thought it would. I’ve had lots of time to say good-bye to this home that holds such fond memories. I have time to say good-bye to friends and family before I leave. What a blessing and what an awesome way to learn patience.
Well, we missed our goal of listing our home on the market by March 1 this year. But who knew it was going to rain so much this year! We didn’t, so that has slowed things down a bit. But here’s what I have accomplished toward that goal.
I have gone through just about every drawer, cupboard, closet nook and cranny to cull everything that does not bring me joy. My husband is still working on his garage, and has a ways to go yet.
Secondly, I refreshed the paint on just about every surface in the house including ceilings. I repainted the kitchen cabinets. That wasn’t really difficult, but it took a lot of time. I put an old plastic tablecloth over my dining room table so I could lay out the doors on it while I painted them. I also put a table in the living room and did the same. But what a difference some paint made! Here are the before and after photos.
Kitchen Before
Kitchen After
We also replaced the old cupboard hinges and added new door knobs and drawer pulls. I painted the walls and ceiling of the kitchen. We replaced the old sticky, greasy stove hood with a new fresh, clean shiny hood to match the stove.
I painted the bathroom cupboards and added new hardware there also. I painted the living room, dining room and family room walls and ceilings also. I’m not quite finished with the family room walls because we have some very large book cases that have to be moved first.
You might say, I went a little crazy with the painting. But if you’re selling a home, fresh paint goes a long ways to make it look new and updated. My other advice is to keep the paint to neutral colors. If you like color, put it in your accessories, not on the walls.
Last week I spent several days conquering the mountains of papers in my lateral file drawers. I have 2 large file drawers that I haven’t cleaned out since I got them many years ago. Most files were old enough and outdated enough that I was able to throw away most of the contents. Others were full of outdated material that I combed through with a vengeance.
I made new folders and labeled them for things I plan to keep. I’m sorry I didn’t take a “before” and “after” photo, but the difference is amazing. The bottom drawer that was tightly packed is now only 1/3 full.
The top drawer is full of current papers so I’m still working on it. But so far, I’ve culled out enough that it has more space than it has seen in years!
I thought I had to keep papers for 7 years, and 7 years is suggested if you have a business (which I do). But for most returns, it is only 3 years. In some less common instances it is 7 years. Medical papers should be kept for a year. But some recommendations say 5 years from the time of your medical condition. Just a suggestion, if you’ve had surgery or some medical procedure, it’s a good idea to keep a file (online) of when it took place so when your doctor asks you when you had your last colonoscopy (gasp), you can accurately tell her. (You don’t want to go through one of those more than you have to!)
I also cleaned out some items on my book shelves. I found some more sentimental items like my award certificates from Avon. They scanned very nicely and it felt great to clear out the space on my very cluttered book shelves. Other items were outdated business cards, business stamps and envelopes from an old business.
I love the new “clean” uncluttered look. But I’m not done yet. I have another 4-drawer file cabinet in the garage that I haven’t opened in a loooong time.
Getting the time do clean out your stuffed file drawers may seem huge and daunting. Again, the secret is to attack it when you have a few minutes of time. If you’re worried about what to do with papers with sensitive or personal information, you can pay a shredding company to have them disposed of, or do what we did–use them for fire starter material. Smile.
