10/16/11 - Palo Duro Canyon SP

Texas is Texas, but it hasn't been the largest state in the union since I was a kid.  They also have to make do with the #2 longest canyon in the US.  Palo Duro Canyon is 120 miles long, a shade wider than the Grand Canyon, but nowhere near as deep. 

It was formed by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.  We didn't see prairie dogs--but we did see some water.  And where some water had been.

If you’re from the very flat Midwest, it is probably pretty impressive.  If you’ve seen other canyons, like the Grand Canyon or Bryce and Zion in Utah, then not so much.  For us, not so much…

The cool thing is you can drive down a steep windy road into the floor of the canyon.  Or if you’re young, athletic, or so inclined, you could hike down, run down (11 mile loop), or ride your horse or mountain bike.  We drove the truck on the paved road.  (FYI trail etiquette:  bikes yield to people & horses; people yield to horses; horses have right-of-way.)

It’s a really people-friendly park.  I’ve never seen a park that had so many turnouts, picnic tables, access points to trails.  It was in the 90s, so we didn’t do much hiking.  One tromp across the rocks to a chimney that was pretty interesting.  I think George follows me on these jaunts to make sure I don't hurt myself--he's definitely not as interested in my escapades as I am.  And he's definitely more sure-footed; I suppose size 15 feet helps.

A few of the official “Texas Longhorn Herd” are corralled near the exit.  (Who knew there was an official cattle herd???  What other state would have one?)  These critters had great names:  T-Bone, Omelet, Brisket and Gravy.   This is Omelet--I see no resemblance to an egg at all.

Here’s more pictures--just click on the link:  Palo Duro Canyon SP 

10/16/11 - Cadillac Ranch

Just west of Amarillo on I-40 is Cadillac Ranch, an example of American kitsch:   10 Cadillacs buried nose-first into the ground and covered with graffiti.

An Amarillo billionaire wanted a piece of public art that would confuse the locals.  He found some hippie artists from San Francisco, and they built a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin.  The cars were stuck up in the air in the ­­dirt.  Over time, pieces were swiped and people started spray painting stuff all over them.  

We parked by the side of the road with the rest of the tourists, and walked into the field.  It was too windy today for anyone to do any painting, but there were empty paint cans all over.

Iconic?  Maybe, maybe not.  Personally I think it’s a crack-up!  The paint is so thick in places on the cars it’s taken on a life of its own. 

Could this happen anywhere besides America? 

Click the link for a few morre pics:   Cadillac Ranch

10/14/11 - Washita Battlefield NHS

Washita Battlefield National Historical Site is one of those places you proably never studiied in American history.  It's in the plains of western Oklahoma near the Texas border.

(You can skip this history part if you want.)  After the Civil War, settlers started moving west and encroached on tribal hunting grounds.  Tribes like the Cheyenne and Arapaho decided to defend their freedom instead of being pushed onto reservations.

The emigrants thought it was their land; so did the Indians.  This lead to Indian wars, with attacks on wagon trains, stagecoaches, settlements.  Treaties were negotiated and ignored.   

Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan came up with a winter campaign to destroy the Indians when they were most vulnerable.  He assigned Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer to attack the village at dawn.  He actually missed the main camps of the Arapahos, Kiowas and Cheyennes, and attacked the separated camp of Chief Black Kettle.  After killing all the men, he then slaughtered their horses, burned their lodges and food, and captured the women and children.  (End of history lesson.)

There’s a walking tour of the battlefield, mostly a mown path through the grassland.  There were numbered signposts at significant spots on the trail.  NPS has gone high-tech and created a cell phone audio tour.  Who knew?  We’d left our phones in the truck!  Rather than walk back, I took pictures of the signs, then pictures of whatever was behind the signs.  Makes for a unique experience when you don’t have a clue what you’re looking at.  (“Was this where the attack was?”  “No, I think it was over there.”  “Oh, I thought this was where what’s-his-name waited for dawn.”)

I entertained myself taking some photos of grasses, wildflowers and some really funky looking pods.  We stopped back at the Visitors Center to ask what are.  The volunteer told us they call them Osage Oranges there, and Bodark where she grew up.   They're also called hedge-apple, Horse-apple and Bois D'Arc.

We voted that Custer got what he deserved when he moved west.

More pictures I took at the Battlefield:  Washita Battlefield NHS