Miles total: 2372
Another day of intermittent rain and dodging storms. I evaded the worst of it but there were some huge buildups in the vicinity.
First stop was - yes - another state capitol.
A pretty impressive capitol building. During the restoration in 1993 they excavated and built an underground extension to temporarily accommodate the government; the extension has a nice grille, making it the only capitol I’ve been to (that I can remember) where you can grab a coffee. I asked the guide for an interesting fact about the building. I was told that it’s the only state capitol not paid for with public funds. Instead the state bartered with a firm in Chicago and traded 3 million acres of land in the panhandle (which became the XIT ranch) to build it. The architect was a firm from Detroit.
Since it wasn’t too far out of the way I stopped by the Mooney airplane factory in Kerrville.
It’s not open to the public but while I was taking pictures a guy came out and chatted with me for a bit. Turns out he’s the head of quality control and the chief test pilot. I told him I’m a former owner of a 231; he has its successor, the 252. They’re struggling at the moment, not producing any airplanes, and have only 16 active employees while they look for yet another investor/buyer.
Not far outside Kerrville is Stonehenge II:
We’re enjoying your ride! It’s like we are following you on our own bikes! Don’t we wish!! We will hope for better weather for you!!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Karen and David🏍