Saturday, August 29, 2015

1722, Sat, 082915. Junction, Texas. South Llano State Park.

We had a great visit with Russ and Janet, a couple of our cruising buddies. They gave us the tour of Dallas and vicinity which included a stop at the famous spot where President JFK was shot. Russ was telling us about a new answer to the entire story so we looked it up online and watched the documentary. It sounds very convincing. Everything I have read about the shooting lead to conspiracy but with the advancements of forensics this one really adds up.
The bullet that seemed to go every which way, piercing JFK a couple of times and hitting Mayor Connolly several times actually was a straight line. The first shot by Oswald actually hit a road sign that went over the road splitting in two, part of it hitting JFK in the side of the head. The second shot (the wild bullet) hit JFK in the back of the neck but not fatally. Oswald only shot two rounds. The third shell found at the Book Depository was used in the rifle to keep dust out of the chamber and was never fired. Now for the "Other Shooter" and the conspiracy. There is a picture of a Secret Service guy standing in the car behind the Pres. when he first heard shots. He reached down to retrieve an AR 14. (Different Ammo) The car lurched and the weapon went off. This hit JFK and was the fatal shot. The different ammo created different wounds and definitely came from a different angle. The Secret Service knew it and tried to cover their mistake. Whew.
The sad part is that SS guy. He wasn't supposed to be on the detail that day. His main duty was to pollish the car and drive it. The SS had been out late the night before and were suffering from hangovers. They got this guy, since he hadn't been out drinking, and stuck him in the car. He lived until 2005 with this story and never told a soul...
We were shown around Rockwall by our guides and got in a walk along the waterfront where we stopped for a Pizza. Of course we played cards and just like the old days the girls beat the guys miserably at Baja Rummy. We must have played this card game a million times back then but none of us could remember the details of the rules. Thank goodness for Google.
We left our hosts behind and headed off to visit the Alamo in San Antonio. Very small place with lots of info on the history. After touring the Alamo we headed down to the town river walk and picked up a ride on a tour boat. We couldn't understand most of what was said by the guide but really enjoyed the river with its huge trees and lots of gardens along the walk at the edge of the water.
Some more riding across Texas although it doesn't seem as desolate as the last time I crossed with Phil. We had taken a more northerly route which may have made a difference in scenery.....more later..