Day Seven: LBJ & San Antonio

We checked out of our Kerrville hotel and picked up coffee in Comfort, Texas this morning

for the drive to the LBJ ranch in Stonewall, Texas

 (free range cattle)

with a visit to Air Force one-half (LBJ's term) for the smaller Lockheed plane that landed here on the ranch (because the Boeing 707 Air Force One was too large to land here).

LBJ spent one-fourth of his presidency at the "Texas White House" (a modest 8,400 square feet).

After lunch at the Redbud Cafe in Blanco, Texas

we headed to San Antonio for the American Booksellers of America Children's Institute conference.

Brad Meltzer (The Fifth Assassin, I Am Amelia Earhart, I Am Abraham Lincoln and out soon I Am Rosa Parks) was our opening plenary speaker this evening.  The message of his speech was to think about our legacy, i.e., what our lives mean to (1) our family, (2) our friends and co-workers, (3) our community, and (4) strangers.  What would we like our obituary to say?  He has actually had his obituary written.  Scary.  He is 40.

The second order of business was the obligatory reception around the pool.  Although it has been a cool (mid-60s) and drizzly day in south Texas, the sun has actually made an appearance by late afternoon.

Following the reception, we headed over to the River Walk for a "private" dinner sponsored by Harlequin.  Yes, while fifty percent of Harlequin sales come from romance titles, Harlequin does publish young adult books.  We had the opportunity to meet two of their YA authors and have a great dinner.  We finished the evening back at the conference hotel for another reception, this one sponsored by Scholastic.

Seven days into our road trip, we have finally made it our end destination, San Antonio.  After Monday's conference day, we start heading back to Wisconsin on Tuesday.