30 June 2018 Palo Duro Canyon

The second largest canyon in the United States, Palo Duron canyon in over 100 miles long, up to 20 miles wide and over 1000 feet deep.  The Canyon is only 20 miles south of Amarillo. Most of the canyon is in private hands but there is a large state park in the northern portion. We started our morning with a drive to Los Cedros Ranch on the eastern side of the canyon where we took a 2 hour horse back ride to the rim of the canyon. This was only David’s second experience on a horse, but it turned out to be his best experience. The young ladies leading our tour gave us great instruction on horseback riding techniques which made the ride easy. David rode a horse call Tona Yak (Comanche Indian for “Thundering Hoofs”) and Leslie rode “Yatzy” (so named because he had been owned by so many people prior to being acquired by the ranch). The morning was sunny and in the 70s. Unusual for a Amarillo summer day. The ride was sedate and pleasant and we even got to herd a group of cattle away from the rim! 

Later in the afternoon we drove into the state park and explored. The temperature down n the canyon were 10 degrees hotter than up on the rim. This had been the first place David had camped with an RV when he rented one back in the mid 2000s as an experiment. The park had changed quite a bit since his last visit. Leslie was overwhelmed by the beautiful vistas and the deep colors in the layers of the canyon walls. We then went to the Texas Musical show, which is held in a open air theater in the state park with the canyon walls as a dramatic backdrop. The show starts just before sun down with a dramatic opening of a young lady riding a horse at the top rim of the canyon with the Texas flag streaming our behind her. The musical was great, it highlights the history of Texas, and very patriotic with a tribute at the end for our veterans. If you ever make it to Amarillo in the summer, go to this show.