We woke up this morning on the rim of Palo Duro Canyon at the Palo Duro Canyon Adventure Park. It was a LOT cooler than when we arrived last night in the 100 degree, windblown, dusty heat of the late evening. Things were quiet in the morning. Not much action. My rubber neck wasn’t too busy yet spying on the neighbors. I had only the living room window open to check out the Texas morning sky.
Today’s plan was to go into Canyon, Texas and root around. We woke up slowly, had a muffin and some coffee. I went outside and poked around packing up. A lot of folks were packing up. Our neighbor was packing up his new trailer and his girls were already sitting in the back seat of the pickup, trying to avoid helping out I imagine.
We never took a trip into “the Grand Canyon of Texas”. Our neighbor talked us out of it the night before although I think it would have been a lot easier than he made it out to be. It wasn’t nearly as hot this morning and I think we would have been fine. We hit the road to Canyon, parked in town and dropped the bikes for some exploring. It was getting hot but Canyon is pretty flat so no hill climbs were on the horizon.
Our first order of business was to find the dude on the Canyon, Texas sign: Tex Randall. Pam saw the sign and immediately went to work finding out who it was. She searched “things to do in Canyon” and old Tex was on the list. We followed googletta around town for a while before realizing old Tex was on the other side of the tracks. He’s quite stunning and worth the trip if you happen to find yourself in Canyon, Texas.
We rode around looking for some Canyon teeshirts but, this being Sunday and all, nothing was open. A local convenience store clerk told Pammie Walmart was probably our best bet so we loaded up the bikes after a while and drove to Wally World. We found Canyon shirts AND a fly zapper! YES! We’ve had some flies with us in the camper since West Virginia and I swear they multiply every time we open the door. One of games has been to open the engine room windows while we’re blasting along at 70 miles an hour to shoo the damn flies out the window. Every once in a while one “flies” (nyuk, nyuk) out the window and a celebration ensues!
Back on the road we were counting signs for tourist traps again. I can’t remember the name of this one but the signs were many. I haven’t fallen into the tourist traps since our trip to “Cherokee” but I enjoy the signs!
We stopped for in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Pam had pulled up a Mexican Restaurant that said it was open and had good reviews. When we pulled off it was closed. There were a couple cop cars nearby too. Don’t know if that had any significance. Probably not. We found a place called Joseph’s Bar & Grill on Route 66 and pulled in the lot, ordered takeout and pulled over on the side to fire up the generator, turn on the AC and chow down – the signs say road calories don’t count!
Lunch in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.
We’re headed for Gallup, New Mexico. The USA RV Park on famous (mostly trashed) Route 66. You’ll definitely get some kicks on Route 66 – mostly in the shocks of your vehicle! It’s been following us on route 40 for the last few days and when we pull off to get some kicks, there’s a lot of work in progress on ole 66 and a LOT more to be done.
The drive from Santa Rosa to Gallup on Route 40 is incredibly beautiful. The hills, or mesas, or whatever the real name of them is, get a lot bigger. You start to get some curves in the road, some hills to go over. The road is good in most spots and trashed in others. We had some fun taking pics of each other. The V10 couldn’t decide which gear it wanted to be in. The truckers were voluminous but courteous. It was a nice drive.
The campground is a small village. Most campers are right on top of each other but there’s a low, cement block wall along the side with few campers. We picked spot 130 which doesn’t have a sewer hookup but that’s cool, we dropped the kids off at the pool on Palo Duro ridge so we’ll be good for a few days. Tomorrow is going to be a work day for me and a day of whatever-the-hell-she-wants for Pammie. Talk to you soon!
On route 40 between North Texas and New Mexico 
more of that 
I’m thinking we’re in New Mexico here 
Welcome! 
My side 
Pam’s side 
Pam’s side 
Landed in Gallup. Nighty, night!
