Amarillo - Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Wild Turkeys at Palo Duro Canyon State Park near Amarillo

Roger here....   We're headed south! 

The last post ended with a few pictures from the Mountaindale Cabins and RV Park where we spent three nights.  We have a few more to share before we show you our southern sojourn.

On our last day in Colorado we took a long circular walk along the local roads.  The picture below shows a view of Mountaindale from the road.  

The picture to the left shows one of the many landscaped areas that grace the walking areas in the park.  The picture below shows one last view of our campsite before I tell the story of our trip south.  

Our first night (an overnight) after leaving Colorado was in northwestern New Mexico.  The Capulin RV Park was a quiet, family-owned park. The office was in the family's living room.  We bought grass-fed beef for our freezer before leaving the next day.  

The next morning we entered Texas.  It has been 6,000 + miles and five months since we left our home in Mission, TX in May.  Home again!  Well not quite.  We still have a few days of driving and a couple of multiple-day stops to go.

Amarillo, Texas was our next destination.  We spent four nights at the VERY nice Oasis RV Resort on the west side of town.  Our goal was to spend some quality time cleaning the inside of the motor home (Dianne) and the bug encrusted windshield (Roger).  We also did three weeks worth of laundry in addition to cleaning the inside of the car.  

We did manage to squeeze in some relaxation time, a Texas-style meal, and a scenic hike.  

I wanted to enjoy a steak dinner in Texas.  The Big Texan (actually an iconic restaurant with a gimmick) fit the bill.  The gimmick --- if you can eat 72 ounces of steak within an hour your meal is free.  Dianne kept telling me that this had to be a tourist trap.  It was.  (Dianne is always right).  That being said, the food was actually delicious and reasonably priced (for steak).  Our steaks were only ten ouncers :-)

We also enjoyed a couple of early evenings in the huge hot tub at the RV Park and part of a day at Palo Duro Canyon State Park (25 miles to the south).

PALO DURO CANYON STATE PARK...

Canyon?  What canyon?  How could a huge canyon only be three miles away from the spot that this photo was taken?   Oh, there it is.

The two-mile 10 percent grade drive into the canyon was a piece of cake for our Toyota.  It might have been a little more challenging for our motor home.

We intended to do two or three short hikes with the dogs to get a flavor of the canyon.  Intended is the operative word.  Our first and last hike was the Paseo Del Rio hike in a green area along a small stream.  It was a peaceful walk interspersed with impressive views of the colorful canyon walls.

Unfortunately, our time in the canyon was short-lived.  The sunny day quickly turned into the threat of a thunderstorm.

Dark clouds passed over the canyon much like a wildfire that caused us to evacuate four years ago --- also after a very short time.  We actually saw more this time than we did the previous time.  Maybe we are not meant to spend more than a couple of hours in Palo Duro Canyon.  Oh well, we enjoyed the time that we had.  Maybe the third time will be the charm.

We are currently in Sweetwater, Texas watching another (probably more serious storm) roll in. We have already pulled in one of the slides.  We are closely watching the radar.  Tomorrow, we will travel to Fredericksburg, Texas in the heart of the "Hill Country" where lifetime friends from Indiana will be joining us for the week.

PET PICTURE OF THE DAY....

The Pet Picture of the Day shows Dianne and Tequila at the beginning of our Palo Duro Canyon hike.