Blogs from Canyon, Texas, United States, North America

It had been 19 years since we last visited awe-inspiring Palo Duro Canyon. Lois drove the RV down the often steep switchback road to the Juniper Campground, about 6 miles into the park. The first day we hiked the Riverside and Cliffside Juniper trails, which included a side trek to a large crevice up a boulder-strewn path. The next day we made the rigorous 6-mile hike up to the Lighthouse rock formation. The last 30 or so yards was very steep with a sheer drop-off on the last turn. Mike was encouraged to crawl across this section by a fellow hiker from Columbia, South America. Definitely out of Mike's comfort zone! The following day we went into Amarillo for a workout at Planet Fitness, lunch at the Big Texan steakhouse, and a short drive on Rt. ... read more

On January 4th we left The Big Easy (not sure why New Orleans is called that) and headed to Texas. Our first stop was Caddo State Park right over the border from Louisiana in Karnack, Texas (birth place of Lady Bird Johnson). Dave was so happy to be out of the big city. He never asked even once go out for a walk while we were in New Orleans. We were also glad to trade the night time sirens for the howl of coyotes once again. Caddo is a park in the Big Cypress Bayou and when the water level is high it can turn into a maze of ponds, back water, and cypress trees. We paddled the area several times and always felt dwarfed by the size of the cypress trees. We found a beaver ... read more