The “Grand Canyon of Texas”

Palo Duro Canyon is a canyon system south of Amarillo.  As the second largest canyon in the United States, it is roughly 120 mi. long and has an average width of 6.2 mi., but reaches a width of 20 mi. at places. Its depth is around 820 ft. but in some locations it can increase up to 997 ft. 

In the local tourist information we found a ranch that provides jeep rides into the canyon. After calling them we were told that they only provide the canyon tours one day a week due to the poor economy, so we decided just to drive to Palo Duro State Park and check out the 16 mile park road.  I am so glad we did it on our own.

After checking out the visitor’s center we headed down into the canyon.  The scenery through the canyon was pretty.  We stopped at various places to take the trails to overlooks. 

Each place we stopped had a thermometer on a post.  Most were pinned beyond the maximum temp.  Here is one in the shade of a shelter that says 105.  We saw only a few birds and some very tiny lizards.  If there were other critters they must have been hiding in the little shade there was.  There was very little water in the portion of the canyon we visited.  Only little trickles in a couple of spots.  In many places the prickly pear cactus were dried up. 

There was a trail to the Lighthouse, a rock formation, that had a warning sign posted.  Each person was recommended to take a gallon of water and the 5 mile trail was not recommended for those with any health issues.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the sign. 

We were so hot after our trek we had to stop for ice cream.  Darn!

Texas Part 1

As we headed west towards Texas the clouds broke and soon disappeared.  Unfortunately the calm winds disappeared too.

We agreed to stop at the first Texas Rest Area.  They don’t have a welcome center at the border.  We had to drive 50 miles.

The truck side didn’t have trash cans—what’s with that.  And they didn’t have a sidewalk to the picnic area where the trash cans were.  So I hiked up over the hill to deposit a little gift from the dogs.  The car side was much nicer and had a spectacular view too.  Only when I was heading back did I see the signs to stay away from the tall grass and rocks as there may be rattlesnakes.  Fortunately I didn’t go near either but it would have been nice to know ahead of time.

Stopped for the day in Amarillo at a pretty nice place called Amarillo Ranch RV Park.  Sherry and I made a Walmart run as we both needed a few items. Then we went to downtown Amarillo to find the Polk Street Historic District.  There were several mansions built between 1905 and 1915.  Too bad I didn’t have my camera.  Tom and Jim stayed back at the “ranch” and made use of the pool and hot tub.

For supper we headed to the Big Texan Steak Ranch, home of the 72 oz., free if you can finish in an hour, steak.  We had coupons for Chicken Fried Steak. The campground called a limo for us (restaurant service). 

Of course we had to do all the touristy stuff.

   

Good friends, good food, good times.

Oklahoma

Hurricane Hermine left us with a pretty wet day of driving.  Fortunately no violent weather or strong winds, just rain, rain, and more rain. 

It was decided that we would continue past   our planned stop in Oklahoma City and drive until we got tired.  Then we saw the Cherokee Trading Post.  We stopped and that was it.  We couldn’t bring ourselves to get back on the road. After a bit of window shopping (too pricy for our tastes) we checked into the KOA next door.  $34 to park on gravel ten feet from your neighbor.  Not a big fan.  We did have full hookups, cable and Wi-Fi.  Jim and Sherry came over to visit and we watched Big Brother then they had to dash home when the rain let up a little.

By morning it was just a mist.  Sherry and I  walked down to the the buffalo that were in a pen near the trading post.  There was a chain link fence with barbed wire on top and an inner metal corral fence.  This kept the humans and buffalo a safe distance from each other.

The Wee Hours

Last night we discussed with Jim and Sherry’s family which way to go west through St. Louis.  They suggested we go straight through on I-55 to I-44 and that we had better leave before the rush hour. We decided to leave at 5:30 a.m.  This was the ticket we zipped through in no time.

It was a nice ride today.  Once the sun came up we could see the beautiful countryside. The interstate followed the path of Historic Route 66.  Few of the landmarks are visible from the Interstate. 

We stopped at Russell Stover's for some sugar-free candy.  Also in the same complex was an antique store and a cheese store.  We also stopped at a pottery/cutlery/Swiss Army Knife store.

After arriving at the Big Red Barn RV park we took off to take in the sights of Carthage, MO.  Our first stop was The White Rose, a winery, bed and breakfast and restaurant. In addition to the winery they also have a bed and breakfast and restaurant. We sampled eight varieties and heard some great stories from the owner, Jan.

 Pictured is Jim, Jan’s husband, on the right and son.  Jim, was standing at the wrong end of a destemmer  and  is spattered with grape juice and parts. 

We visited the Civil War Museum in Carthage and a battlefield park.  The battle took place throughout Carthage. 

A Rocky Start

After a rainy night, we were up early and ready to go—almost.

We pulled our RV next to Jim and Sherry’s and discovered that their RV would not start.  There was an RV repair outfit at the Samboree so Sherry went to where they had been set up.  They were gone!  Now what?  It’s Labor Day it will be difficult to find someone to come out.  They called their insurance who tried to find someone to come out for them but no luck.  So they asked Rich, a Rocky Roller friend.  Rich came over and crawled under the RV.  (You need to know that the RV was raised up on leveling jacks.) So Rich is under the RV poking around with his tester and discovered that there was juice going to the solenoid so that was good.  Rich worked some magic under there and the engine started . . . and the jacks began raise up and lower the RV on to Rich.  Screaming ensued, Jim raised the RV again and Rich wasn’t squished. OMG! We thanked Rich, said our goodbyes to the rest of our group and were finally on the road.

The wind that kept us cool all weekend had not subsided and we had a strong head-wind.  A head-wind is preferable to a cross-wind.  A head-wind eats up the gas but it is easier to control the RV.  A cross-wind makes driving a constant struggle.

We planned a short day for the first day or our adventure, only 179 miles.  We arrived at the campground about 12:30 p.m.  Sherry and Jim called their daughter who lives about a half hour away and arranged for them to visit the campground.  We got to meet the family we have heard so much about and Jim and Sherry got to see their three-week-old grandson. 

L to R: Shell, Lexie, Jim, Christopher, Sherry, Joseph, Tomas, Andrew, Tomas’ Mother, Ann and Romeo in front.

Illinois Samboree 2010

We arrived at the Illinois Samboree at around 11:30 a.m.  We were the last of the Rocky Rollers (our camping chapter) to arrive.  We made a good showing and had six units in attendance. 

We’re the little one in the middle.

Most of the Rocky Rollers in attendance. 

We got setup just in time for a Dairy Queen run with the group. We love our ice cream. Another must is the Friday night fish fry.  This time it was at the American Legion Post in Henry, IL.  We thought if we got there early we wouldn’t need to wait in line.  Wrong!  The line was already out the door. All Good Sammers trying to beat the crowd as we must get back from supper in time for the evening’s activities.

Samboree Activities included:  Crafts, games-closest to the hole, seed spitting, frisbee toss, ladderball, beanbag baseball.ladies lunch, Rig decorating, flea market and craft show, jam session, pet show, teen and pre-teen activities, Samgo, breakfast Saturday and Sunday, ice cream on Sunday, seminars, popcorn every night after entertainment.

The various chapters hold 50/50 raffles during the Samboree for their charities such as Dogs for the Deaf, Cancer Society and scholarships.  In addition chapters collect tab-tops throughout the year for the Ronald McDonald House.  The tab tops are turned in and weighed per Chapter then a total weight.  There were over 150 lbs. collected. There were 175 rigs present, 19 were from Wisconsin.  The Wisconsinites were asked to stand, then each person was to select a number between 1-50 and the one who got the number won a comp. for the 2011 Samboree (about a $70 value).  Steve and Diane from our group won. Woo Hoo!  Other states represented this year were Minnesota, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Texas, Arizona, Washington, Florida, and Kentucky.

The Friday entertainment couldn’t make it. I heard someone say it was due to Hurricane Earl.  So Good Sam members came forward and pitched in.  There was a couple with accordion that sang and keyboardist. All from Wisconsin I might add.  Everyone seemed pleased with the unexpected change.  Generally if folks stay, it’s a good show. 

Saturday’s entertainment was Glen Reader and Band.  He worked with Country Music legends Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl.  He could really sing and the band members were all extremely talented.  Glen featured each for several songs.

Sunday’s entertainment was Wes Harrison.  His act was sound effects—all done with only the aid of a microphone.  He had worked doing sound effects for Warner Brothers.  He would incorporate the sound effects into stories he told. 

When you arrive you are given a schedule of activities. Then you must go to registration to receive a tag with your number (must have to receive door prizes and most drawings), Tickets for the Saturday and Sunday breakfasts and Sunday ice cream.  If you ordered the catered meal you would get a ticket for that also.  In addition you get a bag of goodies.  These may include info from vendors, samples, promotional items such as key rings etc. and local info.

Sherry and Romeo waiting for their turn.

   

Most of the dogs has some type of costume-from bandanas to purple feather boas.

Saturday morning we entered The Boys and Sherry entered Romeo in the dog show. There are categories for longest tail, shortest tail, cutest male and female.  None of our dogs won but we were very pleased how well they behaved with the other dogs and all the people.  A funny story—A little boy wanted to pet The Boys.  I really prefer that people do not touch our dogs especially children.  So I told the little guy that we didn’t let strangers pet our dogs and he said that he wasn’t strange. How precious was that.

Each night there were drawings.  Prizes included: restaurant coupons,  Good Sam bobble heads, RV related books, RV supplies and more.  Jim and Sherry won Good Sam Club Road Atlas which indicated all the campgrounds that give a Good Sam discount. They also won a Glen Reader CD.  We won certificates for free ice cream at the local Dairy Queen.  We gave those away as we couldn’t use.

2010 New Mexico Trip

Got an early start this morning.  The weather had cooled considerably, so the morning was crisp.  The clouds would disappear later in the day but not the wind.

First thing we needed gas and stopped at the travel center nearest our home.  After jockeying for pump space that would accommodate 32’ of motorhome plus car, we cued up behind a car and waited.  Finally a fella came out of the store and then began to fill up.   When he finally finished we pulled up to the pump and Tom “swiped” the credit card and nothing, so he headed into the store.  He was told that their credit card equipment was down and we could fill up but would need to pay cash. We left.  Not having the use of their credit card equipment had to really hurt business as hardly anyone carries cash for gas.  So we motored up the road and got gas for $.06 less per gallon.  So much for an early start.

I-80 Construction 

When we got on to the I-90 it became  apparent just how windy it was.  Flags we saw were blowing straight out indicating a fierce cross-wind.  Tom fought the cross-wind for 98 miles, then a head-wind I-80 and construction for another 16 miles and the remainder was cross-wind but it was more protected and not nearly as bad as the wide open prairies of Illinois along I-39.