Just Another Beautiful Day at Palo Duro!

I was up just before 7:30 this morning. I kept waking up last night for some reason so decided I may as well get up. Consequently I went for my walk earlier than usual. The sun was hardly up above the rim of the canyon so it was still pretty cold. Once the sun comes up it warms up nicely and today was bright and sunny again with a clear blue sky and 74F (23C).

Here's a photo I took this morning from the rock where we took our anniversary photos. You can see our fifth wheel from there.



After breakfast and our usual morning surfing the internet, we got ready to go into Amarillo. I needed to go to GNC and SuperWalMart so I wrote down directions from Google Maps and we were on our way. It took a while to find GNC as they tend to be in a strip mall and there were many strip malls in the area but we finally found it. We had seen the SuperWalMart on the way so it was easy to find.

Once we finished there we headed back home to enjoy the rest of the day in the Canyon with one final stop at the Entrance of the Canyon to sign up for two more days so we're officially here till Sunday. Now that we have the errands and side trips out of the way, hopefully we'll be able to hike some more trails. Gordon wants to do the Lighthouse Trail which is 11 miles return. I don't think my back can handle that although I would like to see the Lighthouse. It can only be seen from the trail.

I sat outside for a while this afternoon however there must be something blowing around today that was causing allergies as I could hardly breathe so was forced to come inside. Bummer!

The photos below I also took on my walk this morning just as the sun was peeking over the ridge.

A Side Trip to Caprock Canyons

I thought we were going to Amarillo today. GNC in the U.S. only has the first 7 days of the month where you can use your Gold Card unlike Canada where it can be used every day. However, when I got in the truck Gordon said we were going to Caprock Canyons which is about 98 miles southeast of here.

He stopped at the Entrance Gate and got directions. Good, that means I don't have to have a computer on my lap the whole way. Joanne, the Ranger in the office gave us the scenic route which took us almost to Amarillo on FM1541 then east on FM1151 to FM207. FM207 takes you through the eastern end of Palo Duro Canyon and is very pretty in itself.

We, of course, stopped for more pictures. The rest of the drive other than that area is pretty flat and boring but Gordon always finds photos no matter where we are. He can make a photo out of pretty much anything and have it an award winner. By the time we arrived at Quitaque (pronounced Kitty Quay) which is 3 km from the entrance to Caprock Canyons State Park we were starving.

We drove through the small town noting that most of the stores were closed giving it a ghost town aura but we found the Caprock Cafe was open so in we went. (Note the ambience!)



Not what you'd call 5 star dining however we did manage to get something to eat and luckily Gordon had no reaction to it. I say luckily because when we reached Caprock Canyons the water had been turned off as they were doing work in the park and you guessed it, no washrooms in the whole park! There were a couple of pit toilets available however.



Gordon had thought that Caprock Canyons was supposed to be prettier than Palo Duro and it is pretty in its own right especially right at the end of the road where there is a huge valley and lots of red rock however it is much more open and less diverse than Palo Duro. Palo Duro gets my vote!

Caprock Canyons is also supposed to be The Home of the Official Texas State Bison Herd. What a disappointment! They had three bulls only. The rest that they had around we fake bison. I couldn't believe it! Guess which ones are real!




On leaving Caprock we were just exiting when we saw something on the road. Guess what? I finally saw an armadillo in the wild and have photos to prove it. Now all that's really on my list of things I want to see is a Painted Bunting but it's too cold here now for them. I was really excited to see this little guy. Isn't he cute?


On our way back we came across on FM285 which skirts the south end of Palo Duro. I thought it would be more scenic but it was mostly fields. You could see the canyon rim from the road in one spot only.

Once back in the park we stopped at several places taking photos of the sun on the rocks and at one spot we saw a lot of wild turkeys and took more photos. I had seen some this morning as well as a little cottontail. I was disappointed that we hadn't seen any deer when we rounded a corner and there was a deer, then another one came out of the trees. So I consider this a great day. Lots of wildlife!

Interesting sky

Happy Anniversary!

Seventeen years ago today we got married in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. So, Happy Anniversary to us! We took our anniversary photo in front of one of the beautiful red rocks here in the campground, just us the rock and the sky (oh, and a little lizard that ran and hid)!

I got the place vacuumed this morning and then we drove around the park this morning taking more photos since the sky was more interesting today but other than getting our anniversary picture done we didn't do much this afternoon.

Here are more photos taken in the park.












Tonight we had the pork stew with black beans and cabbage that I made yesterday. It was pretty yummy!

What Can I Say About Today!

It was an absolutely beautiful day, more like summer than fall. When I stepped out the front door at about 7:40 a.m. I saw these three wild turkeys immediately. As I came out of the RV they took off across the road. I set out on my walk.

There must have been quite a bit of rain before we arrived here because this river crossing is flooded. It's only about six inches deep but this guy came through it without slowing down.

You could tell the day was going to be hot just from the haze.


Gordon had gone out for sunrise so when he got back after breakfast, I suggested that we hike the Sunflower Trail. It's only two miles round trip so I thought I could handle that. We set out about 10:00 a.m. and after a couple of false starts we finally got on the right trail. By that time it was getting hot! Here's a photo that I took from the road before we started on our hike.


The fall colors here are bright yellow and are beautiful!

Here's the hiking trail.

This is Gordon with his hiking gear using his monopod as a walking stick.

This is what we think are sunflowers that have gone to seed. The sun rays are a bonus. I didn't even know they were in the photo till I put it up on the computer.

Here's a closeup of the sunflower.

This looked like a candle cactus.

More of the beautiful yellow trees.



Gordon is crossing the Turkey Roost Bridge. We also crossed the Toad Suck Bog. Cute names!

After we finished hiking we drove to the Old West Stables. This little girl was getting ready to ride! She looked so cute and seemed to know what she was doing!

I spent the afternoon in my lawnchair reading my book and again gazing at the red rocks. It was really peaceful until a couple of families decided to come into the campground (where they're not supposed to be, campers only, no picnics) with their kids and spoil my solitude. They didn't stay long though.

I had a huge pork tenderloin that I wanted to barbecue and then make a pork stew so I got that done and now it's in the crockpot. I kind of combined two recipes so who knows, it might be inedible!

Today's temperature here in the canyon reached 87.8F (31C) but sitting outside I actually had a sweater around my shoulders due to the slight breeze and I was in the shade and under the canopy that's over the picnic table. Once I got inside however, the shorts came out!

Our First Day at Palo Duro Canyon & October Expenses

Our first day dawned cloudy, that wasn't in the plans! We decided since we had to go outside the park to get some groceries and fuel this morning was a good time. Thirteen miles away there's a little town called Canyon and it has a SuperWalmart and a grocery store as well as several fast food places including Taco Bell. Imagine! So off to Wally World we went and as usual I managed to part with a fair bit of my hard earned money.

The sun had started to come out by the time we were coming back so we stopped at several spots along the way into the park to take some photos. Our campground is actually 8 miles from the park entrance. Gordon took the photo below of me at the Visitor's Center.


Here are some more photos that I took around the park.






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We got back to the campground well after 2 p.m. for a late lunch.

After lunch I got the October expenses put together as they have finally all come through on Visa. Note the expenses are in Canadian funds.

October Expenses

Campground - 673.01 - stayed at a couple of more expensive RV parks
Groceries/Wine/Spirits - 617.59 - did some stocking up on foods that we can't get in the U.S.
Laundry - 44.59
Entertainment/Parking/Restaurants - 204.26
Truck Fuel - 567.27
Propane - 14.88
Repairs RV/Truck - 0.00
Internet/TV/Cell/Insurance (Fixed Exp) - 360.18 - satellite TV went up in price
Medical/Dental - 30.77
Gifts & Misc - 1319.13 includes travel medical insurance for U.S.

Totals - $3831.68

Considering that we were traveling from October 25th onward I think this total came out very well. If we hadn't had the travel medical insurance to pay for our total would have been $2,797.73.

Gordon went out later in the afternoon so to see his photos go to www.pbase.com/merriwolf. Hopefully he'll have some up shortly. I stayed here and sat in my lawnchair and read and gazed at the red rocks.