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Wood Shopping in Cedar Park

We needed a slab of black walnut to make a table from a fantastic piece of walnut left over from our Arkansas log.  The mill in Cedar Park is one of the best places to buy wood of this type so off we went yesterday.  Its about a hours drive to there from our base.
We always look for other things to see and do while on trips like this, so we decided to have lunch at Coffee Dog in Bastrop.  Found it after having not been there for some time and had a good lunch and good coffee.  I think we are the only people who drink hot coffee in Texas when the outside temperature is 100 degrees.
While dining, we checked the internet for museums in Bastrop and chose the County museum in the old section of Bastrop.  It is not a large museum, but a good one covering the history of Bastrop County and its historical events of Texas.

Here are photos of two of many displays;
This one is a map of Texas showing the area of the state where there were many longhorn cattle running wild.  These cattle were collected and the herds were driven north to packing plants.  All in the latter half of the 1800s.
Next was this display of artifacts of the Texas war with Mexico.  What was most interesting to me was the cannonball in the foreground of the display.  It was found in the Colorado River near here.
Next is this painting of the travels of the residents of Texas, before its freedom from Mexico, showing residents fording a swollen river in their haste to flee from the invading Santa Ana army.  It was called the runaway scrape.  The painting is interesting in that the two people shown pulling the cart.  Their ropes actually attach to a real cart out in front of the painting.
On a small display in the lower level was a story of J.C. Higgins who was a plantation owner in the area in the 1800s.  The display didn't say this, but could this be the J.C. Higgins of Sears and Roebuck fame?

Now, on to Berdoll Sawmill where we bought some mesquite and a single slab of walnut.
Home safe and sound.



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