Tank It Up At The Texas Military Forces Museum

Driving South on MOPAC 1 in Austin, Texas it’s hard not to notice when you are passing Camp Mabry.  Vintage helicopters and jet planes hoisted high on supports line a walking track circling a century old drill field.  You can’t miss the old Austin stone warehouses that are as orderly and functional as when they were built over 100 years ago.

Still an active military base, the camp is not only home to the Texas Military Forces (Texas Army National Guard, Texas Air National Guard and Texas State Guard) but also the Texas Military Forces Museum.

The Museum is a treat!  I’ve brought my grandchildren here several times.  Entry to the camp, and thus the museum, is via a guarded gate where you’ll have to present a photo ID.  

A short drive beyond the gate delivers you to a 45,000-square foot old warehouse building with a wooden double door entry.  Using space made available by the camp the museum offers a representation of uniforms, photographs, army tanks, military vehicles, artillery, ground weapons, helicopters, and jet fighters used by Texas soldiers in the fight for freedom.

The Texas Military Forces Museum explores the history of the Lone Star State’s militia and volunteer forces from 1823 (date of the first militia muster in Stephen F. Austin’s colony) to 1903 when the Congress created the National Guard. From 1903 to the present the museum tells the story of the Texas Army and Air National Guard, as well as the Texas State Guard, in both peacetime and wartime.

Permanent exhibits utilize uniforms, weapons, equipment, personal items, film, music, photographs, battle dioramas and realistic full-scale environments to tell the story of the Texas Military Forces in the Texas Revolution, the Texas Navy, the Texas Republic, the Mexican War, the Battles along the Indian Frontier, the War between the States, the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, Peace Keeping Deployments and the Global War on Terror.

Living history programs, battle reenactments and other special events take place throughout the year. Admission to the museum is always FREE.

HOURS:
Tuesday to Sunday 10 am to 4 pm
Office staff is available Monday to Friday 8 am to 4 pm.

Driving Directions to the museum:

The Texas Military Forces Museum is located in Building 6 on Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. The street address of Camp Mabry is 2200 West 35th Street. The mailing address is P.O. Box 5218, Austin, TX 78763. The former entrance to the post was blocked in 2001, the current entrance is on Maintenance Drive.

From the MOPAC Expressway (aka, Loop 1).

1. Exit the MOPAC Expressway at 35th Street.
2. Drive west 6/10ths of a mile past the old main gate, which is now barricaded, and go through the light at Exposition, and down a steep hill.
3. At the bottom of the hill, just before a flashing traffic signal, you will see the gated entrance of Camp Mabry to your right (i.e., Maintenance Drive).
4. After passing through security, go straight to the stop sign and turn right.
5. At the next stop sign, turn right again.
6. Follow General Mabry Boulevard past the running track on your left.
7. Building 6 will be on your right, next to an outdoor display of tanks and military vehicles.
8. The main entrance for the Museum is the large white double doors at the center of the building.

From IH-35.

1. Make certain you are on the lower level of the Interstate.
2. Take the 38½ Street exit going west. Note that as it proceeds westward, 38½ Street becomes 35th Street.
3. After crossing over Loop 1, follow the instructions above.

From the Airport.

1. Take Highway 71 West to Highway 360 North
2. Highway 360 North to Loop 1 North.
3. Travel five (5) miles on Loop 1 to 35th Street.
4. Follow the instructions above from that point.

GPS Address 3038  W 35th St. Austin, Tx 78703

At the current time, the post is open to the public during daylight hours without prior arrangements. The security guards, however, may require you to present some form of valid state or federal identification and to consent to a search of the vehicle.

Cheap & Sweet Way To Catch A Wave!

Want to take a fun picture of the kids jumping into a swimming pool this summer?  It’s easy enough but there are some basic tips to make the picture better.  Watch for the sun.  Make sure it’s not behind the subjects.  Have the subjects line up on the side of the pool that is most aligned with the direction of the sun.  Not only will this give you plenty of front lighting, the reflection of the sun off the pool will act as fill lighting.  Get into the pool!  It makes a better picture shooting up than shooting across or down at the subject.  Take several shots!  Don’t depend on just one but repeat the shots as long as your subjects will participate.  

You don’t have to have an expensive camera to get some really great family and vacation photos.  I think today most of us are using some type of digital camera, either the one on our cell phone or a point-and-shoot type.  Personally, most of the pictures I take on trips and special events are with my digital single lens reflex Sony with a 5 lens selection from a 14mm wide angle up to a 500mm.

BUT I find I take a lot of family related pictures with a small handheld digital camera.  Which brings me to the topic of taking pictures with a waterproof camera.  I bought my small point-and-shoot just for the purpose of taking pictures of the grandchildren at places I don’t want to haul around my camera bag.

However, you don’t really have to have a digital camera to get into the water and catch the family floating down the Guadalupe River, swimming under water, or just wrestling over a floating tube.  There are still some simple underwater film cameras that can capture just the right moment the 5-year old reached the bottom of the pool and snatched the sunken ring off the bottom.

Fuji and Kodak both make waterproof film cameras that are available in stores or from an online retailer.  The only big downside is you still have to get the film processed and the digitized by the processor if you want digital copies.  Otherwise, the quality is acceptable acceptable for family purposes. 

Another downside is you don’t have the ability to see if the picture you just took is one you want.  I had my grandchildren crawl out of the pool and jump back in several times before I got a picture I wanted with my waterproof digital.  I would have been hoping for this shot if I had been using film.  This isn’t to say I haven’t gotten a lot of keepers with film.  Some of my favorite underwater pictures were taken with a Kodak waterproof camera.  The films for both Fuji and Kodak are rated 800 which is plenty fast but they worked best for me when my subject with within a range of 3-6 feet from the camera on a bright sunny day.

The disposable film cameras are light enough and cheap enough to not fret about them floating to the bottom.  But if you don’t want to lose even an inexpensive digital point-and-shoot, then for a few bucks you can add a floating strap that will keep it on the surface if you drop it.