Advertisement
So we made it to Amarillo. It wasn't exactly difficult, we just had to follow the I-40 all the way! It was great to see Liz and Steve again and their hospitality over the few days we stayed with them was amazing. Their house is so cool and their dogs, Shrek and Donkey, are lovely.
What did we do there? Well, we certainly socialised a bit. The Old Santa Fe bar is a great place to see Amarillians enjoying a few beers. Later on a
honkey tonk at the All Night Rodeo is a fabulous spot for people watching and, if you feel the need, a bit of a dance. It probably helps to enjoy country music a bit more than we do though!! Still, a great cultural experience.
One day, Steve did a barbecue for us. Earlier on, Liz had taken us out to shop for the meat. Wow, we never thought we would be impressed by a butchers shop! The ribeye steaks we got were 3/4 of an inch thick and when cooked to perfection by our host, they were out of this world. We finished that day sat in the garden, drinking beer, and watching the
nearby storm-clouds produce a great lightning display.
On the outskirts of town is the
Cadillac Ranch which is one of the strangest sights you are likely to see. 10 Cadillacs have been buried nose down in a field. Visitors are welcome to bring spray paint and graffiti to their hearts content. We decided just to look at them. Very bizarre!
Just 25 miles from Amarillo is the Palo Duro Canyon. It is, apparently, the second largest canyon in the USA. Unlike the Grand Canyon, you can drive down to the bottom of the Palo Duro. The skies cleared and the temperatures soared towards 100F but we were not deterred. We set out for a 3 mile each-way walk to the rock formation known as The Lighthouse. It was a bit tough at times, but only due to the heat. On the way we were buzzed by some aircraft from the nearby Bell aircraft factory. The final scramble up to The Lighthouse was a bit steep but we avoided any mishaps and were rewarded with a fabulous view of the canyon.
On our way back to the car we kept a nervous eye on the building clouds which
could produce flash flooding. We needn't have worried as they stayed out of our way until that night. At 1130pm the tornado sirens went off and, when they sounded again 20 minutes later, we were ushered into the central bedroom by Liz. We watched on TV as the row of tornadoes went overhead and listened to the torrential rain and hail outside. It was quite exhilarating but I think everyone was very grateful when none of the twisters touched down in our vicinity. We got back to bed around 1am.
From Amarillo we drove all the way to Dallas Fort Worth airport. It took just over 5 hours and, other than the tedious scenery, it wasn't so bad. A night in a cheap airport hotel saw us well rested for our morning flight to Orlando where we were going for some Mickey Mouse Magic!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.105s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0652s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb