Amarillo By Morning…
Speaking of that, here’s a little musical interlude – Amarillo By Morning by George Strait
First – This announcement::
My daughter has instructed me to tell you that, when I said the other day that it would be a “boring six weeks until we saw Nick and Terry again”, that this did not include her, or anything to do with her wedding.next Monday.
She also said to tell you that she is not boring.
Hopefully this will get me out of the doghouse. I just want to remind her that I hugged her first.
We left the coach about 11:30 am heading for the nearest Kohl’s. But before we left the park we stopped by the park office so I could drop off a bunch of Gypsy Journals Newspapers for the office and the laundry room.
We were going to Kohl’s so that Jan could find a pair of sandals for Brandi’s wedding, and luckily she found just what she wanted.
Leaving Kohl’s we headed down the street to have lunch at a Jason’s Deli we saw on our way there. We have always like Jason’s and it’s the first one we’ve seen since we left Texas this past February. Jan had her favorite Turkey Muffelata with Broccoli Cheese Soup, and I had the Southwest Chicken Chili and a salad.
After lunch we headed about 30 miles south to visit Palo Duro Canyon State Park, a place I’ve wanted to see even before we starting RV’ing.
The first thing we saw after entering the park was a Texas Longhorn. No, not a college football player, but the real thing. According to the signs, there’s a whole herd of them out here, but this one is the only one we saw.
Then, as we started into the canyon itself, we came across this sign. Glad we weren’t in the rig, although we took our coach up and down 12-15% grades in Canada on our way to Alaska two years ago.
Here’s a brief description of the canyon.
As the second largest canyon in the United States, Palo Duro Canyon is roughly 120 miles long and has an average width of 6.2 miles, but reaches a width of 20 mi in places. Its depth is approximately 800 ft but in some locations it can increase up to 1000 ft. Palo Duro Canyon has been named "The Grand Canyon of Texas," both for its size and for the dramatic geological features, including the multicolored layers of rock and steep mesa walls similar to those in the Grand Canyon.
The scenery was as spectacular as I had heard. We drove the loop out and back in about an hour, stopping at the Gift Shop on the way back where Jan bought a couple of books about pioneer women, and a Lighthouse postcard.
But the real signature formation of the canyon is this – The Lighthouse. And unfortunately you can’t see it from the highway. It can only be reach via a hiking trail, which, since Jan was wearing sandals, we took a pass on. So here’s an Internet photo.
Heading back toward Amarillo, Jan said it was nice to be back in Texas again after spending time traveling thru the desolation of Arizona and New Mexico. I said that a lot of Texas out there next to Arizona and New Mexico looked just as desolate.
Jan said “That’s because they sucked all the life out of Texas”.
That’s my Jan!
Along the way home we stopped at a Tractor Supply Store so Jan could pickup a copy of the latest issue of CountrySide magazine, which as it turns out, they did not have yet.
Closer to home we stopped off at a WalMart to get some groceries, and Jan also wanted to get a pedicure before the wedding. But this particular Walmart did not have a nail salon. We try again tomorrow in Abilene.
After we got home we decided that since we had such a big meal yesterday, and a good lunch today, we’d just have the rest of the Big Texan carrot cake from last night for supper tonight, along with a pot of coffee.
Quote of the day:
I’m glad I didn’t have to fight in any war. I’m glad I didn’t have to pick up a gun. I’m glad I didn’t get killed or kill somebody. I hope my kids enjoy the same lack of manhood. – Tom Hanks
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