Palo Duro Canyon (Thurs.)

Today we headed out to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which is where the show that we came to see will be held.  It's about 30 miles out of town.  Our first stop was at the visitor center, and they have a nice CCC exhibit.  We didn't know there was a CCC flag or a hat.

"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."  I am particularly partial to the Grand Canyon, and I don't think this one eis anywhere near as beautiful, but the main difference is that you can drive to the bottom of this one.  However, it is pretty and has some wonderful colors and rock formations.

We checked out the amphitheatre where the shows are held.  Looks like it will be comfortable, weather permitting.  They offer a chuckwagon steak dinner before the show but I don't think we are going to do that.  We prefer eating inside in air conditioning and without bugs.

Apparently they offer hayrides too, and Mazie was ready for that. I was really surprised Joe didn't hop on the tractor and take her for a spin.

As we continued our drive, Dave told Joe to stop and back up.  He had spotted a little tent, with an air conditioner in the window.  None of us had ever seen that before, but it made good sense.  The campgrounds here in this state park have electric and water at the sites, and it looks like these campers  figured out how to make camping a little more comfortable.

There are also cabins to rent here, in the cow camp.  Looked like they had electricity, but no A/C.

We finished our tour and headed back to town.  Joe stopped at McDonalds for ice cream cones but their machine had broken just as we got to the window, so we left without anything.  It rained during the evening, a little thunderstorm (it rained the night before as well).  We are in tornado territory so we are keeping any eye on the news.  We are hoping that the show at the canyon doesn't get rained out.