First Visit to Texas
My first time in Texas couldn’t have started out better! Descending 800 to 1,000 feet on a steep, winding road into Palo Duro Canyon State Park was amazing! Some of the turns were really tight especially with the car attached. Thick with red mud from recent flooding, the pull-through campsites with large, patios, picnic shelters and firepits created a great outdoor living room. With the beautiful canyons and rock formations in the park, I can see why it is sometimes called the ‘Grand Canyon of Texas’.
Surprises in Amarillo Texas
A trip into nearby Amarillo, Texas from Palo Duro Canyon provided supplies and entertainment. The Jack Sizemore RV Museum was conveniently located next to an RV supply place where we picked up a new water pump. Maintenance and repair is a constant in RV life! Among other awesome relics at the museum like a huge collection of vintage RVs and Harley Davidson bikes, there is a 50’s era drive-in. My favorite RV was the original 1948 Flixible bus from the movie “RV”.
A nearby stop at a famous Route 66 attraction, the Cadillac Ranch created a muddy, bizarre experience; glad we did it, but not sure we need to do it again! The paint on this community “artwork” was so thick that it had the look of puff paint on a 90’s sweatshirt.
Palo Duro Canyon Hiking
Taking advantage of a clearing in the weather, we hiked the lighthouse trail in Palo Duro Canyon. It was a little startling and uncomfortable to share the trail with mountain bikes though. I’m sure they flushed out any of the plentiful animals whose tracks were fresh in the mud. Gorgeous scenery was made more vibrant with the rain creating a memorable hike. We spooked some horses being ridden toward us on the narrow trail and they didn’t want to pass, even jumping up on the bank above the trail to avoid us. Walking sticks are apparently scary to horses, who knew? It took a bit to calm them enough that we could pass by. Hiking with horses is much better than hiking with mountain bikes.
Though there were no animals on the trail, there were some right at the campground. Huge turkeys wandered through our site one day and some squabbling road runners entertained us. Roadrunners are humorous anyway but it was funny watching these males chase each other around for rights to this territory.
Our schedule was already set for the RV Nomads Movie premiere at our next stop, otherwise we would have stayed a little longer here. This park is on the list for a repeat visit. Maybe it will be even better after flooding danger has passed and it’s still cool enough for hiking.
