Gotta get ourselves a stetson hat!

We are definitely in Texas - big ranch houses, and lots of space, cattle and oil rigs. We even saw tumbleweeds along the highway!

The one thing we didn't expect in Texas was the cold weather and the snow. As we drove up to Fort Worth and on to Amarillo, we knew we were going up in elevation just from how many more times we had to stop to get gas. But we didn't expect the below freezing temperatures and the 2 inches of snow that we found in Amarillo. We had planned on staying at the Palo Dura Canyon State Park just outside of the city, but when I called them for an update on the park, the road into the canyon had been closed because of the ice and snow conditions. They said that the 10% grade with hairpin turns down to the bottom of the canyon made it a touch dicey in this weather, but that the road would be open later in the afternoon once the sun melted the ice. With that news, we opted to find a campground in the city.

The next morning was spent thawing our our water lines after it dropped to -10C overnight. This was the man who didn't want me to bring my hair dryer. Guess who's using it now?



After hubby got the water lines emptied, we took the truck and went down to the Palo Dura Canyon. The land is flat and wide open, and the first sight of the canyon is a surprise. The land just drops away and suddenly you are driving along the rim. There are no fences to stop people from just walking off the edge, and no signs of warning like what we expect in Canada.

We entered the park area and drove down the winding 10% grade. There was less snow at the bottom. There were also very few campers! Which is probably why we saw so much wildlife while we were there - deer was everywhere, and we had a quick glimpse of a bobcat.

The canyon is 120 miles long, and the colours of the rocks are beautiful. We hiked about two and a half miles along a trail, all the time wishing we had come earlier. Frozen lines be darned!

But soon enough the sun was getting low and we had to get back to Amarillo. At the top of the rim, we finally got to see true longhorn cattle. There is a small herd of them just within the park boundaries. The park ranger told us their names: Biscuits, Gravy, Brisket and T-Bone.


With that on our mind, we stopped at the Big Texan Steakhouse after a quick shower and cleanup. They offer a free 72oz steak (four and a half pounds!) to anyone that can eat it within one hour. We wimped out and asked for something much smaller. Between that and our Tilley hats, I'm sure we were easily identified as tourists. Maybe with Stetsons we won't stand out quite so much.

W