Mmmmmmm, Rice!

Day 12 of our epic voyage took us from Houston to College Station, away from the big city and out into the gorgeous rolling countryside to the northeast.

Farewell to the seemingly endless sprawl of Houston...

We did stop, on our way out of town, at Rice University, the Cambridge of the Southwest, to look at the surprisingly picturesque campus. And, of course, to acquire a few mementos from such a lovely school - Blythe and I would willingly travel to Houston if Allegra chose to attend this prestigious university (#17 in the latest US News rankings, not that those mean everything)..

It looks almost just like St. Catherine's College at Cambridge

We really like Rice

It was a really nice drive through the Brazos River Valley, rolling from maybe 100 miles from Houston to College Station. A nice short drive (for once) as well.

Our fourth Presidential Library was on the agenda for today, the George Bush, #41, on the campus of Texas A&M University. Why is it there, when President Bush is from Connecticut or Maine (depending on who you ask)? 

Even the flags are too hot to wave

The introductory film poses that question to the President, who answered that he 'just loved the feeling, the energy of the campus.' I presume it was solar energy, because the sun was almost painful out there today, our first in the triple digits! 

The George Bush Museum seemed very different from the other three that we've seen so far, with many fewer source documents on display, even electronically. There were a lot of laudatory letters (from the public and officials), some publicly issued reports, but that was about it. The one document that wasn't in that category was a letter President Bush sent to Saddam Hussein in August 1990 after the invasion of Kuwait.

At least they let you have a little fun with the President - nice glasses, George!

Way to aim high!

The other museums had a large number of memoranda and previously classified materials on display, even the Clinton Museum. It's difficult to believe that 20 years on there are still classification and presumptive "national security issues" that prevent more source-level materials to be widely shown to the public. It would make the museum a more engaging place.

Truly a piece of history 

Like the Bush presidency, the installations about foreign policy, including the Gulf War, dwarfed the domestic stuff. The piece of the Berlin Wall in the museum is very evocative, and while there are a lot of items and information about the Gulf War itself, the whole of that part felt a little stiff. The photos of the environmental damage from the oil field fires and spills were more emotional.

We took a little drive around the HUGE Texas A&M campus, snapped a photo of the imposing Kyle Field  and found our way to the bookstore, which has been temporarily relocated into the former volleyball arena (who new they had one at A&M?).

Is that sign big enough? Can you see it from space? It seats more than the population of the town!

We actually found a place to get a good salad for dinner tonight, our vegetable intake had fallen to dangerously low levels. We are off to Austin and the final president on our trip, LBJ, tomorrow. Talk to you later!