By the numbers:

• 300 miles all in Texas from Odessa to Fredericksburg – 2600 total miles
• highest temp:  90.  – Coolest day of the trip
• elevations: from 2890 in Odessa to 1718 at Fredericksburg.
• still at 8 total states for the trip.
• Licence plate spotted: Louisiana – 37 total for the trip plus 3 Canadian provinces.
• No new National Parks but a very interesting visit to the National Museum of the Pacific War.  

It was a very enjoyable day driving today.  Drove through a town called Harper, Texas.  I wonder which of my cousins might find that interesting?

We spotted a place for lunch in Fredericksburg and found it to be a treasure of a find:  The Old German Bakery & Restaurant.  One of the things we always look forward to in returning to Iowa is finding a place that serves a good pork tenderloin, pork chop, or other pork dinner.  Seattle has many good and varied types of restaurants but almost no German restaurants and very few that serve a good pork dinner.  In recent times our favorite place to hit in Iowa is Darrell’s Place in Hamlin, Iowa a few miles east of Harlan.  We love their famous pork tenderloin.   All I will say beyond the pictures below is that Darrell better be glad Fredericksburg is a long way from Iowa.

The Museum of the Pacific War was surprisingly good.  I am enough of a history buff that I have been to a good many museums focused on many aspects of history, including all of the various Smithsonian Museums.  This Museum was one of the most well planned and presented history museums I have ever been too.  My particular interest was somewhat narrow.  My father served in World War II, mostly in the states, and was part of the Medical Corp with the Pacific army on MacArthur’s late war return to the Philippines.  I wanted to learn more about that part of the war and I came away with a much better understanding than when I went in.  In addition, I found myself much more captivated by all of the rest of the very narrative displays which walked the visitor through from the 1930’s and earlier precursors to the war up to the post-war reflections of some of the leaders involved.  For anyone with any interest in history I would highly recommend this museum.  We spent over 4 hours there and were as filled as we could be with new information and insights.  There was more to take in and we will return if we come through this area again.

Tomorrow we visit the LBJ ranch and then move onto nearby San Antonio for a few days.