Today we drove up to Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, which is an hour north of Amarillo. This was our second NP Passport stamp. Flint is a misnomer. The only real Flint is in the chalk formations in England. The rock here is Agatuzed Dolomite or Chert for short. The Alibates Quarries were active for over 13,000 years. As we walked the trails there were pieces of Chert on the ground all over by the millions. Colors ranged from black, grey, red, and blue. The Alibate Chert is distinguished by the layers of red and grey. They found Alibate Chert spear tips in bones of prehistoric Mammoths found nearby. There are over 766 digs in the NM itself and over 1000 more in the surrounding ranches. Picking up a piece off the ground and thinking that someone, thousands of years ago, chipped this off is humbling. The ranger led tour was very interesting and we highly recommend you take it if you are in the area.
After the NM, we explored parts of Lake Meredith National Recreation Area before heading back to Amarillo. The lake level is really low so the areas we could get to from the NM, you could not even see the water. We then went to the RV Museum in Amarillo. It was a lot of fun to see the vintage RVs and see how far RVing has come. We then stopped at Blue Skies café for dinner. Great burgers and onion rings. We will stop there in the future when we pass through town. Tomorrow we are on the road north.
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