Monthly Archives: April 2013

Palo Duro State Park

Perfect star gazing posts

There was some very pretty hiking around these rock formations

Beautiful flagstone cabins for rent inside the park

We spent last night near Amarillo in the “Grand Canyon of Texas”,  which is 120 miles long and 800 feet deep and is the second largest canyon in the United States.  There are many campgrounds inside the park  and all of them are at the bottom of the canyon, a pretty steep drop down into the park (and a good workout for Trixie getting back out this morning).   We chose a campground at the back of the canyon that was the most picturesque, surrounded by the rock formations of bright red claystone and white gypsum.

It was extremely hot, dry and windy on our trip NW to Amarillo and when we checked in at the ranger station at the top of the canyon it was 89 F.  By the time we got into the canyon it was 92 F and we were wondering if we had made a huge mistake and even though we had hook-ups, it was still really hot.  As the evening progressed, it started cooling off and the stars were awesome.  We were able to sleep with the windows open as the temps dropped into the 60’s and we heard the yips of coyotes far off in the distant canyon.

This was the day that we were dreading the most, having to circumnatigate the Dallas traffic.  We thought if we went on an alternate route about 40 miles north of the city on a Sunday that it would go smoothly.   It did go smoothly, but it was not the scenic country road that we thought it would be, but miles and miles of new constuction and stop lights.  The recession doesn’t appear to have hit here.

Lake Arrowhead State Park

Nice roomy campsite and almost nobody else here

We made out way to Lake Arrowhead State Park just outside of Wichita Falls.  The roadsides have been covered in Bluebonnets, which is the Texas State Flower.   I think we must be traveling at the best time of the year.  Most of the roads that we’ve been on have had wildflowers on them and the trees are just starting their spring growth.  It’s green right now in Texas but Lake Arrowhead, which is actually a reservoir is only at 40% and there are “Pray for Rain” signs on the roadsides.

The campground has lots of spring growth, tall grasses and tons of birds.  It reminds me of a place we were at on the edge of the Australian outback and it would be a great place to spend more time.

Scissor-tailed flycatcher

We saw some birds that we have never seen before (thanks for the loan of the field guide Clay) including flocks of scissor-tailed flycatchers.  It was amazing to see and hear them flying around.

There was also an active prairie dog town with youngsters and adults sounding the alarm that intruders were nearby.    Laia has never seen anything like that and was peering down the holes trying to figure out where they went to.

Texas Bluebonnet

Prairie dog town

A State Park with it’s very own oil well

Crossing the mighty Mississippi.

Day 3 of our trip had us crossing the Mississippi River into Louisiana.  My first ever viewing of the huge river.  I know it is at flood stage further north and I wondered what it would look like here at Vicksburg.  It was high but didn’t appear to be flooding.

We made it into Texas

We decided to push on through Louisiana and across the state line into Texas where  we found Caddo Lake State Park.

Caddo Lake State Park

Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in Texas and was created by a mass of trees and flood debris that obstructed the Red River over 100 years ago.      A dam maintains the water today, which is primarily a maze of bayous – thick with ancient bald cypress trees.   What a great place to paddle around and I wish we had brought our canoe.

Even the campsites are bigger in Texas!

Tomorrow we press on.   We’re pleased with our progress and everything is performing well, so that gives us a little leeway in our schedule.  After tomorrow I think we will be half way there.

Packed and ready to go!

It’s hard to believe, after all the planning the time has come and we have finally departed on our long awaited trip out to the Western USA.

Our first day was an easy one, with an overnight at Jerry and Linda’s.  Jerry is  a very good friend and former coworker of Leonard’s who has a lovely cabin in a fly-in community in north Florida.

We met the neighbors and enjoyed Happy Hour at Jack and Karen’s,  where Leonard played the banjo.   It was a full moon and we slept to the sounds of the whippoorwill.  Such a tranquil setting and we enjoyed it thoroughly.    Jerry and Linda sent us on our way after a hearty breakfast and we started counting down the miles as we headed west.

We made it through Alabama  to Biloxi, Mississippi, where we are tonight.  Tomorrow we press on and hopefully head for Shreveport, LA.