Haisler's Wild Wild West 2009 Summer Vacation

 

6/17/2009

Getting ready for the trip… 568 trips to the camper to load… then checked the weather at Yellowstone and found out that the daytime temps were in the 50’s and the night time temps were in the 30’s,,,, 528 more trips to camper to pack some winter clothes…  Temp in Texas right now 101 in the shade!!!

12:00 Midnight ---- Amya standing at our bedroom door…. “Nana, I am so excited I cannot sleep, I have tried everything... even counting sheep….  So, into our bed for a few minutes, then she announced she was sleepy and off to bed for Miss Amya…

6/18/2009

Our 5:00AM departure time did not work out…. We left at 6:30AM instead…. Melvin it seems turned off the alarm and went back to sleep!!  So, it was not my fault, as I was up and ready to go…. At 6:30AM…..  Thanks Kimberly for the 5:45 wake up call...

We arrived at Palo Duro Canyon State Park at 5PM, very tired and very sore from riding all day.  Our friend Leah from Lubbock is going to stay a couple of days with us at Palo Duro and to the play “Texas” tomorrow night and dinner “Chuck wagon” style catered by the “The Big Texan.”

Amya took a ride on her bicycle when we got into the park  and this is what she saw...  It is called a "Texas Mountain Boomer", they get up to 14 inches long, it stood up on it's hind legs and started running after her.  Well, when Amya got to the camper she was so scared she could not even talk.

 

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

16 miles S of Amarillo; 103 miles N of Lubbock

Founded as Canyon City in 1889, Canyon takes its name from the spectacular Palo Duro Canyon, which lies 12 miles to the west. The nomadic prehorse tribes of Apaches first inhabited the region, but by the 18th century Comanche and Kiowa horsemen used the canyon as a major campground. By the late 19th century, white ranchers began grazing cattle in the area: Charles Goodnight, the inventor of the chuck wagon, drove a herd into Palo Duro Canyon in 1876 and established the JA Ranch.

Today a city of 13,000 residents, Canyon is known primarily as the gateway to Palo Duro Canyon State Park and the home of West Texas State A&M University. The town is a good base camp for those who want to explore Palo Duro Canyon but don't want to spend their nights in a tent. The community also has a charming small-town vibe, and much of its colorful history is presented at the excellent Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park opened on July 4, 1934 and contains 26,275 acres of the scenic, northern most portion of the Palo Duro Canyon. The Civilian Conservation Corp of the 1930's constructed most of the buildings and roads still in use by park staff and visitors. The Canyon is 120 miles long, as much as 20 miles wide, and has a maximum depth of more than 800 feet. Its elevation at the rim is 3,500 feet above sea level. It is often claimed that Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the United States. The largest, the Grand Canyon, is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and 6,000 ft. deep. Palo Duro Canyon was formed by water erosion from the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. The water deepens the canyon by moving sediment downstream. Wind and water erosion gradually widen the canyon. Early Spanish Explorers are believed to have discovered the area and dubbed the canyon Palo Duro which is Spanish for hard wood in reference to the abundant mesquite and juniper trees. Humans have resided in the canyon for approximately 12,000 years. Early settlers were nomadic tribes that hunted mammoth, giant bison, and other large game animals. Later, Apache Indians lived in the canyon, but were soon replaced by Comanche and Kiowa tribes who resided in the area until 1874. At that time, Col. Ranald Mackenzie was sent into the area to transport the Native Americans to Oklahoma. Col. Mackenzie and the 4th Cavalry were able to capture over 1,400 horses belonging to the tribe. After keeping some of the best horses for themselves, the remainder were taken to nearby Tule Canyon and destroyed. Cut off from their only means of transportation, the Native Americans soon surrendered. In 1876, Charles Goodnight entered the canyon and opened the JA Ranch. At its peak, the ranch supported more than 100,000 head of cattle. Goodnight operated the ranch until 1890. Although only a fraction of its original size, the JA Ranch remains a working ranch today.   Well as you can see Palo Duro Canyon is quite a sight.....  We have reservations to see the play TEXAS, we have seen it before and are looking forward to seeing it with Amya.  We are so close to the stage this go round we should be able to feel the Can Can skirts swishing!!!
6/19/09 The dinner before the play was great!  We had rib-eyes, potatoes, salad, watermelon, strawberries, grapes, it was all great!   Before the play a country & western band played and Amya did the “boot scootin’ boogie” line dance.  Melvin & I did a little “two steppin’” too..           The play “Texas” was so entertaining, set as the backdrop was the canyon, lots of special effects and lighting, then a fireworks display at the end.  It started at 8:30PM and was over around 10:45PM. We stayed up til after midnight once again…  Amya entertained us with her new dance moves she learned from the play “YEE HAW!”  Then we all closed with a rousing rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In” I am sure the campground will not be same, but definitely glad when we pulled out the next morning. We did not want to let Leah go home, we thought about kidnapping her and taking her with us… but to work she has to go.  However, if all goes well she may meet up with us in Gallup, NM. 6/20/09 We left about 9:00AM, Melvin would have liked to have left at 7:00AM, but it came about a 2 inch rain and was still raining when we left and we had a river running beneath our camper. We got a sweet call from a sweet girl while crossing into Oklahoma,,, thank you Rachel for calling and checking up on us!!!  We love y’all! We are on the road; this will be a long day of driving… not sure where we will end up tonight.  We have gone through Oklahoma and are now in Kansas headed for South Dakota.