Day 37: Palo Duro Canyon

We did not get the early start I'd hoped for our visit to Palo Duro Canyon, but considering that we had no idea if Peanut would even be up to hiking, it didn't necessarily matter as much. But it was a rough morning. Although we did get the van cleaned up. I love how fast we can vacuum and wipe things down and reset the van. Of course, it gets undone just as quickly, haha.

And then, we finally made it to the canyon! This is one of the biggest canyons in the U.S. and it's been on my radar for awhile. Peanut and I planned to hike here last year on our way back from the eclipse in Dallas, but it was pouring that day and so we skipped it. I was glad that we made it this time!

Because of the late start, it was lunch time by the time we made it down into the canyon. Luckily, it was a nice day so we decided to use the picnic tables. Getting out of the van is always nice. As much as I love it, sometimes it's more of a means to the adventures, not necessarily where 3 people want to spend their days.

After we were all fueled, we went on a hike.

We managed a 3 mile, fairly flat hike through the bottom of the canyon.

Peanut was feeling the best he has in days.

And we enjoyed exploring the textures.

And the striations.

We didn't make it all the way to Lighthouse Rock, but we got to the viewpoint on the trail (you can see it off in the distance.)

Seriously, the layering in this park is so cool.

After that hike, we drove a little farther and visited the Big Cave.

At this point in the trip, I'd say we could all use some interactions with other people to balance out all of the family togetherness, haha, but we were just glad that Peanut was out of the car and sort of happier.

This rock reminds me a lot of Bryce Canyon when we saw it with snow. But another look at it:

It's like a perfect replica of a full-size canyon!

While we were there, we took some footage of the van for Bug who wanted to use it for the Christmas short the kids make each year. And we decided to pop into the campground for showers. It had been a few days, and we thought it might make Peanut feel better. They didn't really have an option to pay for showers, so we were a little worried about someone coming through and kicking us out the whole time, but the hot shower felt great!

And then it was time to go. We drove about 3 hours to Santa Rosa, NM where we fixed dinner at a truck stop, and then ended up staying the night. It was late, they had room for overnight parking, and we wanted to get back on the road first thing, so it just made sense.

 

Day 36: Driving Day

Driving day with a late start and no stops worth mentioning. The Model T graveyard that we saw on the map turned out to be this, which could be seen through a chainlink fence. Pretty underwhelming and not worth even driving off the freeway for. Not every stop is a winner. And Peanut was not in a good mood--he's kind of a nightmare when he's sick.

But we made it to Texas! Too late to go to the campground that I'd wanted to stay in,

but we got a gorgeous sunset.

We ended up in the Walmart parking lot near Palo Duro Canyon. Convenient, if not fun. Sometimes that's what we need after a long day. 

Cadillac Ranch

Tuesday, we left Houston and drove across Texas as fast as we could so we could see this--Cadilac Ranch

We got there just before sunset, and without any big crowds (for the first 10 minutes or so), which made for some good pictures.

The kids got right to climbing.

And spray painting.

Peanut wanted a turn, too.

We all took a turn leaving our mark.

It's fun when you get to be part of the art.

I think the kids would have been happy to completely repaint all 10 cars.

Wonder if we should be worried about them around spray paint now.

This girl--always climbing as high as she can.

Such a perfect time of day. And then, a tour bus with about 100 Europeans descended on the site and we decided we'd had our turn.

Stay tuned for Amarillo, Part 2!

Southern Tour, Stop 3

Our next stop was Houston to see one of Daddy-o's friends and spend Halloween with his family. We spent Monday visiting Brazos Bend State Park, where I got to see just a little more Spanish Moss.

I am really, really going to miss this sight.

But as beautiful as the Spanish Moss was, that wasn't the main attraction at the park, and not why we were there.

The main event would be getting to walk within a few feet of some very large alligators.

It's a little alarming when you first spot them and realize they are right at the edge of the trail. We kept Peanut up high, just in case he looked a little bit like a bite-sized snack.

Look how happy he looks--like he already found his bite-sized snack. We saw a dozen alligators during our walk, some over 6 feet long.

It was a beautiful day.

Beautiful park.

There was an observation deck with a great view of the ponds.

And a kind of creepy looking swamp.

We had a lot of fun enjoying just a little more of the south before we leave this world behind.

Everyone made it out with all their limbs. Daddy-o did NOT get to fulfill his bucket list item to wrestle an alligator, thank goodness.

But he did get to catch up with an old friend.

After that, we went to a small park in The Woodlands where we were staying that had a pond full of turtles.

I've never seen so many turtles in one place!

And then, it was time to head home for pumpkin carving and getting ready for trick-or-treating.

Here's the whole gang, ready to go.

Our three went with a Harry Potter theme this year. The older two had their robes from Universal Studios and luckily, Peanut is pretty easy going and it wasn't a hard sell to get him to agree with being Dobby. They were so cute together.

Bean's pumpkin dragon.

Daddy-o and Peanut's skull and bones.

And Bug's werewolf.

One of the last houses we stopped by was a whole Harry Potter themed house. It was amazing, and they were excited to see our two wizards. Peanut had already gone home, but since the house was close by, he and Daddy-o went back out so they could see the house, too.

All in all, our careful plans for the kids to get to celebrate Halloween even though we were on the road paid off. Bean said it was the best Halloween ever. That probably had something to do with the 3 full-size candy bars she got in her very full bag of candy. We'll call it a success, either way.