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Loading the bus on a busy downtown street is far different than what we normally do. Our loading crew hustled this morning and allowed us to get things done in record time and actually drive away a little ahead of schedule.

We arrived at 9:30 for the tour of the Texas State Capitol building. The tour began with a scavenger hunt in the visitors center. We divided into two groups when we began the tour. We were all dazzled by the beauty of the Capitol and its sheer size. You know they say everything is bigger in Texas. This Capitol building surely was! Not only is it the largest state capitol in the nation, but the peak of the dome is 7 feet taller than the United States Capitol building in Washington. The exterior of the building is very distinctive since they used Texas sunset red granite instead of limestone. Our group actually had the opportunity to sing in the rotunda of the Capitol building. What a sound! Our guide told us that the legislators in Texas only meet January through June, odd numbered years. Sounds like a good job if you could get one. The state was in such bad shape financially, they could not afford to build the capital so rather than pay for the construction, they gave away 3,000,000 acres of land to a company from Chicago to construct the Capitol building.

Finding a place to eat lunch was tougher than we thought. We finally found an exit that gave the kids a few choices but most of them went to Chick-Fil-A. Since Rick ate at another place, Adam Ballew stepped up and led the choir in singing our blessing at Chick!

We arrived at the George HW Bush presidential library at 2:45 PM on the campus of Texas A&M. The people there were extraordinarily accommodating and very kind. Anna Garland‘s great uncle and aunt, Gene and Donna Head, met us at the library when we arrived and toured the library with us. We felt like we were touring with a celebrity when we learned that Aunt Donna used to style Barbara Bush’s hair! After watching a movie on the life of President George HW Bush, we picked up electronic wands to help guide us through the library. We took a moment to sing again in the rotunda of the library. Then we explored the library and a fascinating exhibit of Leonardo da Vinci‘s inventions. Before leaving, most of the group walked out to the grave of Barbara Bush and their daughter, Robin, who died at age 3 with leukemia. The staff at the library asked that we sing another song before leaving. We sang “Esto les Digo.”

Our final tour program was presented at Christ United Methodist Church in College Station. We arrived at the church at 5 PM and were greeted by their music minister, James Faith. Great name for a minister, right? The church was beautiful. James told us that although this was their second sanctuary, the church was founded only 20 years ago. They relocated to a new section of town and the city grew in their direction. Christ United Methodist youth choir toured last year with 118 singers. They have just returned from their tour this year where they sang with 88 singers. We had the largest crowd of our tour at this performance. The congregation was very receptive. Unusual for Methodist churches, their pastor has been with this congregation for 20 years. They have agreed to let him stay as long as the church is growing. We also had several visitors who had connections with First Baptist Easley. Former members, Philip and April Hendricks attended the program last night. They live in College Station, but attend another church. We also had Mike and Nancy Rogers and their daughter Jenna. Carol Jo taught Jenna in the third grade at West End elementary school. Anna Garland Rampey gets the prize for bringing the most guests to our program on Thursday evening. Uncle Gene and Aunt Donna and their entire family were there last night.

After the program, we decided to ride through the campus of Texas A&M University. The university has over 65,000 students, so we didn’t see the entire campus. Carol Jo pressed Scott, our bus driver, to take us by the stadium, Kyle Field, and stop in the middle of the road long enough for us to have our picture made in front of the 12th man statue. We tried to encourage the students to get out, but they had no interest so it was a chaperone only photo.

Our day ended with our gathering at the hotel. Ella Hennessee led the group in some singing before Addison Ballew led our devotion. Along the way, we have amassed enough sweets to open a bakery. So we put cookies and some delicious bread out for our group to enjoy.