Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum

I left Corpus Christi at 7:30 this morning when it was 41 degrees and raining. Three hours later, when I got to Austin it was still raining!  Not a fun drive..... At least it quit while I was at the Library and was dry from there on. But then, there was road construction most of the other 4 hours including through Dallas. Not sure which was worse...

The LBJ Presidential Library is on the grounds of the University of Texas Austin. There are 13 Presidential Libraries/Museums and this is the 4th one for me. I have been to the  Kennedy, Truman, Clinton and now LBJ Presidential Libraries.  I plan to go to the Eisenhower Library this summer.

The Library is housed in this building which is not what I expected in Texas.I didn't expect the architecture to be this modern. Everything else on the campus is brick and "old" looking.  This library was opened in 1971 and I couldn't help but compare it to the Clinton library that opened in 2004. I think the exhibits in the Clinton Library are better done, easier to follow and definitely not as crowded as the ones at the Johnson Library. There just seems to much stuff for the size of the building in this one. 

This is the stairs leading up to the Great Hall and is really beautiful. The hall is 5 stories tall and open. The stairs, railings, floors and walls are all a beige travertine marble that came from Texas. 

The red on the wall in the picture of the Great Hall is these individual books containing over 45 million documents from Johnson's presidency. Each book is bout 6" wide and there are around 4,300 of the books in the cases on the wall. 

Johnson's desk in the 7/8 scale of his oval office. The furniture is the original furniture. He lived for several years after the library was built and got a kick out of coming to the Library and setting at this desk when visitors came by. 

This is the actual paper from the teleprompter that Johnson read from, while sitting at his desk, on March 31, 1968 when he announced that he would not run for a 2nd term. 

Lady Bird's office as it was in the White House. I was surprised by the red desk and red sofa.....

Back to Corpus Christi.... Today was their annual half-marathon run.  I could not believe how many crazy people were out there in the rain, while it was 41 degrees, getting ready to run 13 miles.  O.K., I can understand the young people but there were many, many people who have had enough birthdays to know better... At least one lady had a light poncho on and had it taped so the hood, etc would stay close to her while she was running.

Weather is looking good for the last day of driving tomorrow!  I keep thinking about crawling into my nice warm bed tomorrow night instead of cold sheets....