Pueblo South/ Colorado City KOA

We arrived at the Pueblo South/Colorado City KOA on April 26. What a nice surprise! This is a beautiful KOA....lots of green grass, beautiful scenery, spacious lots, clean and well maintained. The staff is friendly and helpful. They gave us lots of ideas for places to go on the Harley. We have enjoyed our stay here.....

and laying in the grass....

Kamp K-9 was just right for playing ball...



Joe was unloading the Harley.

These are the snow-capped mountains we see from our front yard....I took this about 6:30 am.

Jack didn't want to come home so Joe just joined him.

 This is the community fire-pit......

This is an iris garden...I know it is really pretty when it's in full bloom!

Today Joe and I went on a ride through the San Isabel National Forest. From our site it was about a 97 mile loop. These pictures were taken during our ride...we saw snow,streams, a lake, and yes, a castle!

We both agreed it was one of the most beautiful and interesting rides we have taken!

Amarillo East KOA

We had site 83....right on the end. The lots were gravel, level and spacious.

The staff worked hard. We got there just as they were opening up for the season.

What a way to start the day...the sunrise was beautiful everyday!

Dover and Sally out for their morning walk....

Jack found a new place to be lazy on the dash....

and Wrecks waiting patiently to play ball.

I thought the doggie walk was cute.

Joe had to work hard to keep the dust off the bike. We enjoyed our stay in Amarillo!

Historic Route 66

 Yesterday, Joe and I took historic route 66 to Vega, TX. It is about a 30 minute ride from Amarillo.  Route 66 stops in Vega and I am not sure where it picks up again. At the end of the route in Vega is Dot's Mini Museum. Dot's museum is an informal collection of Mother Road odds and ends accumulated by Dot Leavitt over the course of many years of living and working alongsideRoute 66.

Dot's Mini Muiseum...

Standing along Route 66 west of Amarillo, Cadallac Ranch was invented and built by a group of art-hippies from San Francisco. They called themselves the Ant Farm, and their silent partner was Amarillo billionaire Stanley Marsh 3. He wanted a piece of public art that would baffle the locals, and the hippies came up with a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin.

Ten cadies were driven into one of Mr. Marsh's fields, then half-buried nose-down. They faced west in a line from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Sedan de Ville, their tail fins held high for all to see. That was in 1974. Decades have passed, the cars have been stripped by visitors and today, the smell of spray paint hits you from yards away. Tourists are always welcome. If you bring spray paint, make sure you also bring your camera. Because what ever you create at Cadallac Ranch will probablly only last a few hours.  



Downtown Amarillo...we passed by here headed to historic Amarillo.

Historic Amarillo is on 6th Ave. between Georgia St. and Western St.

This is the entrance to the historic Route 66 in downtown Amarillo. 100 plus home grown, home owned antique shopd, bars and restaurants are nestled inside quaint architecturally unique buildings whose frontage is lined by trees, vintage lighting, and cobble stone sidewalks.  We had lunch at the Golden Light Cafe. Best hamburger and fries EVER.  It opened in 1946 and is still serving food today! 

Alibates Flint Quarry

On Monday Joe and I went to  Alibates Flint Quarry.

Alibates Flint Quarry is the only National Monument in the state of Texas. It is about 30 miles north of Amarillo in Fritch, TX. Alibates flint is the only flint that has color and is only found in this area. It is found along the sloping canyon rims of the Canadian River Valley. Small pits and tons of stone manufacturing debris are testimony to prephaps 13,000 years of quarrying the brilliantly colored stone. Prehistoric hunters traveled-or traded-over distances of 1,000 miles to obtain this stone. Points and other tools made of Alibates stone have been found as far north as Montana, as far south as Central Mexico, and east to at least the Mississippi River. Finely flaked and fluted Alibates flint have been found at the scene of a mammoth kill in New Mexico. The site dates to 13,000 years ago at its earliest. There is more evidence to suggest that later visitors to the quarry mined the stone more intensively. They used the flint to outfit all parts of their "toolkit" as well as for trade for other materials. In 1877, Allen (Allie) Bates bought the land and it became the LX Ranch. To this day, no one knows what happened to this mysterious LX Ranch cowboy , Allie Bates, whose name has become famous in this part of the Texas Panhandle. 

 The mesquite tree has been growing since the Ice Age which lasted from about 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago. At that time they were wide spread because its natural partner was the mammoth. What makes it so interesting is that the pod has a parasite that kills the seed, but when consumed by mammals, the parasite is killed in their digestive systtem, and the seeds were widely dispersed in their "poop". So mesquite trees grew wherever mammoths roamed. In the 1500's, when the Spanish brought cattle to this area, the mesquite had a new natural partner. Today these trees are widespread throughout the Southwestern U.S. from southern Kansas and west to the Colorado Desert in California. Native Americans relied on the seed pod as a dietary staple from which they made tea, syrup, and ground meal. The bark was used for basketry, fabrics, and medicine. And the taproots (which are often bigger than the trunk) were dug up for firewood because it burns slowly and is smokeless.

This is a dried mesquite seed pod.

Palo Duro Canyon

 Yesterday, Joe and I rode the Harley to Palo Duro Canyon. It is about a 30 mile trip from our campsite in Amarillo. The state park opened in 1934 and the roads and buildings that were constructed in the 1930s are still in use today. The cost is $5.00 per person for a day trip.

 The canyon is 120 miles long and as much as 20 miles wide. It is the second largest canyon in the United States.Palo Duro was formed by water erosion from the Prarie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. This photo was taken at the Visitor Center/Museum.

 Humans have resided in the canyon for approximately 12,000 years. Early Spanish explorere discovered the area and named it Palo Duro which is Spanish for "hard woods" because it was abundant in mesquite and juniper trees. The state park is one of the largest with more that 26,000 acres of scenic landscape. Walls plunge almost 1,000 feet to the canyon floor, exposing brilliant multicolor strata.

This formation is "The Lighthouse". There are hiking trails to it.

 The park offers camping (tent and RV sites with water and electric hook-ups), picknicking, restrooms and ahowers, horseback riding and hiking and biking trails. Also there is an interpretive center and amphitheater where shows are staged during the summer season. There are 3 restored cabins (made of stone) located on the canyon rim for rent.  Within the park is also a historic marker citing the last great Native American battle in Texas.

 The road travels from the top to the bottom of the canyon. We took a 16 mile loop into the canyon floor. There are 6 water crossings on the road and number 6 was flooded and impassible which shortened our route.

This is "Capitol Peak".There are biking trails to it.

One of the camping site areas was designated for tent camping with your horse...four pups are enough, can't imagine taking your horse!  

Amarillo, TX

One of many jack rabbits...

 As you can see, our scenery has sure changed! We are in Amarillo, TX. We are enjoying the rabbits (this one was keeping his eye on us too) and birds.

cows in the parture...

This farm is off in the distance. The cows haven't come close yet. Not as brave as the rabbits!

and interesting trees...the wind wasnt blowing!

Grapevine, TX

We have had a great time in Grapevine, TX. The Vineyards Campground has been such a nice place to call home this past week. Anyone passing through the Dallas, Fort Worth area should check out staying here.

Joe and I had a couple of visits with his friend (Clyde and his wife Pat) from the Navy. When we went to see them at their home we were taken to a real Texas Hamburger Grill.....best hamburger and chili we have had....in downtown Denton, TX.Texans know how to serve up a burger. Clyde also took us for a ride around the area. We saw some beautiful horse ranches.....I was so sorry I had left my camera in our car.....quite impressive. The horse barns were bigger and nicer than most homes I have ever seen and the horses were magnificent creatures.

I need one of those!

Race day turned out to be a good day. The weather held off. Our seats were up pretty high, but we could see the whole track. It was way fun watching Jeff Gordon go from 34th to the top 5. The race would have been better if there had been more cautions.....as fast as they go there, I am surprised that there were no wrecks.

Last Sunday, Joe and I went to downtown Fort Worth. We saw on the internet that there was a Justin Boot Outlet and wanted to check it out. We are so glad we did....if you need boots, that's the place to go. Joe found 2 pair of boots to fit him and I tried on lots and lots of boots....what fun! It was hard to make a decision, but I finally decided on a black pair and a brown pair. It was really hard to pass up the lime green pair! Right next door was a Dickies Outlet as well. Joe found t-shirts and shorts.

 This picture was taken on Main Street in Grapevine. It does not really show how nice the area is. There are many cute shops for clothes, gardens, jewelry and antiques, and Texas- themed creations.  I got a couple of cute tops at Bella Butterflies and we bought a hand-made stone cross at Holy Grounds. We ate lunch at Big Fish. We both got grilled salmon with pineapple salsa....yummy!



 Jack and Wrecks have had a great time playing ball. Wrecks did get his ball, but it took awhile. He was not too sure of himself. Dover, however, had no trouble exploring and splashing. Jack actually helped Wrecks once. All of a sudden Jack made a mad dash to the lake and under he went. He was so not afraid! Sally and Dover have had lots of walks. They have both enjoyed the birds and ducks!

Yes....the heron did swallow the fish!

Mama led her babies to the lake...all 8 of them!