17 July 2012

Roger informed me this morning that he was ready to go home.  This morning we left from Colorado City CO (south of Pueblo) and headed towards home.  You know you’re in Texas when you see on display longhorns.  This guy was nice enough to stop eating and pose for me.  Another lady came up to take a picture and it turned and walked away.  The lady asked me how come the longhorn stood for me to take a picture and I seriously told her “I’m working on becoming a naturalized Texan.”  To which she replied, “Oh, no wonder, I’m from Illinois.”

We’ve been hearing for years from my Mom that the show in Palo Duro Canyon is very good, so we’re spending the night at Sagebrush campground in Palo Duro Canyon.  When we passed through the entrance gate the thermometer was 100 degrees in the shade at the top of the canyon.  The campground, 600 feet lower, is in the bottom of the canyon and it is hot!  But it’s a dry heat, so it’s not as hot--- I keep repeating this and maybe I’ll believe it someday.  When Roger asked about cellphone service the grizzly bearded elderly gentleman replied “We haven’t had cell service since the tower was assaulted by baseball sized hailstones.  Guess the cell companies took that as a reason to provide some 20^th century tranquility to our visitors.”

 In the park there’s a show called “Texas”.  The plot is set in post civil war Texas.  The main characters are a rancher, who is fencing in land, and a farmer, who is more progressive in his attitude towards the railroad and the growth it will bring.  There’s a lot of Texas patriotism, with a dash of “we’re sorry to the Native Americans” thrown in to be politically correct.  If you don’t feel like putting on a cowboy hat and going to a ho-down by the end, you’re missing the point of the over the top Texas is the greatest state to be in.  The show even has horses on the stage and uses the canyon for a backdrop complete with lightning striking a tree and panhandle prairie fire.  After the story is wrapped up, the Pioneer players have added a patriotic salute to the USA.  They use water cannons, laser colored lights and fireworks set to music to get this message across. 

Well we missed catching up with our friends in Fort Worth.  In the 21st century you'd think we wouldn't have a problem connecting, oh well...

The grand total for the trip was 15,032 miles.  We got home around 6 pm, there was a basket full of mail, and the house was well tended in our absence.  Of course tomorrow we have a lot of catching up to do. 

I hope you won't miss reading my blog.  Until our next grand adventure, there won't be much out of the ordinary to report.