Texas State Book Depository

Last night, the lightning was close and frequent, and it poured at least an inch of rain. But the rain stopped sometime after we went to bed. It’s amazing how much this reminds me of the north woods of Wisconsin. Lots of fir trees close to the road and the periodic lakes or rivers. As we head toward Dallas this morning, the country transitions to more deciduous trees, rolling hills, and dairy/cattle farms. We’re staying at the Bluebonnet RV Park about 30 minutes to the east of Dallas. It was recently picked as one of the top 100 Good Sam parks and it shows – a clean campground with large sites, a pool and even tennis courts.

Shots from far right window on sixth floor

After lunch, we head into Dallas to explore the Sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot John F. Kennedy. The museum is well done with lots of photos, artifacts (like many of the cameras that captured what we know of the shooting), videos and an audio tour of the museum. It starts with Kennedy’s campaign and election, goes through many of the key programs he initiated: the Peace Corp, the Space program, and the fight for a Civil Rights Bill (which Johnson would eventually get passed). Then it goes deeply into the trip to Texas (primarily a political trip) and the fatal day he was shot in Dallas. The most interesting items, however, were the subsequent investigations into whether Oswald acted alone or not. There was the initial investigation by the Warren Commission, then another by the House Committee on Assassinations 1978 (where they concluded that there was a 4^th shot that missed from the grassy knoll.  Of course, there have been many criticisms of the initial investigations and many conspiracy theories, but we probably will never know. It was also interesting to see the film of the funeral and public parade of Kenney, ending with Jackie lighting the eternal flame. This was a well done museum and well worth the time. We also went to the JFK memorial a few blocks away, a simple memorial from the people of Dallas.