October 1, 2010

Work is hard!
I had planned on blogging every day but, after six months of being retired, it’s hard to work a full day! I have been worn out!
Today was our first day as volunteers. I worked some in the office, making copies of brochures and learning to use the folding machine, and spent most of the day cleaning the office, gift shop and display cases in the exhibit hall.

They latched on to Mark immediately and were thrilled to have someone tall that could reach the fabric covered walls that no one else has been able to reach.



After doing a little vacuuming, he spent the rest of the day working at the Visitor Center reception desk and running the film in the Auditorium. It is a film from a 1966 newscast in which LBJ took a reporter around the ranch and described what the ranch meant to him. It’s very interesting and a great place to start before taking the auto tour.



There is a wonderful auto tour of the State and National Park. A CD can be picked up at the Visitor Center at the State Park that takes the visitor past the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm and on to the LBJ National Historical Park where a narrator describes several attractions including the one-room school house LBJ attended, the Johnson family cemetery where President Johnson and Lady Bird are buried and other interesting sights before stopping at the Texas White House complex. The Texas White House is fascinating! We took the auto tour last month and really enjoyed it. There is now a JetStar airplane that LBJ used to fly from Washington to the ranch.

Our first day went by fast. We have already met a lot of very nice people.