A scenic hike out along the Juniper/Riverside trail and back in time for breakfast. I plan to move my RV to the site next door so the covered pavilion is on my awning side. Nice going, Kevin now you got to drive back out the canyon to the visitors center!!! Decided to shoot into Canyon, TX and have lunch while we are up there.
Canyon, TX is 12 miles north of Palo Duro and I told friends I met from Wisconsin that I would check out the Zip Line that went across the canyon. We were up for the adventure. I strolled in through an open door to the lobby which looked like a tornado had just blown through. Junk was everywhere and all the zip line gear in a pile in the center of the room. It definitely did not inspire confidence. A lonely Beagle came running to greet me but by this time I had crossed this one off our list. OSHA where are you?
The drive out of the canyon was fine but I am always perplexed why the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) feels no need to put up guard rails on treacherous, cliff-like roadways. They opt for esthetics over safety by putting sweet little boulders there instead. What will that boulder stop? Certainly not my RV and all I hold of value in it!! Lunch will be Mexican and I select "El Camino Authentic Mexican Food". I think it was the word "authentic" that suckered me in! I had the Enchilada plate and about 2 gallon of unsweetened iced tea. I wouls say both were highly authentic and my taste buds were dancing a "Cha Cha"!
I think I know where Disney got their "Toy Story" idea!! As if lunch wasn't fulfilling enough I needed to visit the "Purple Zebra" in town. One of the park rangers told me they had an old fashioned soda bar and made great sundaes. Sign me up, I can always switch to the Atkins Diet after lunch!! On my stroll back to the parking lot I couldn't help catching a clever billboard. Not sure if there was some hidden meaning to it but after drinking all that iced tea I had to agree with them.
Back to the canyon after groceries and gas. Shona had deserved a day of rest and I decided to do bike trails without her. Wisely, I selected only Easy and Moderate trails after witnessing young stud-muffins carrying bikes on their backs up the side of the canyon and then biking off-road down on the edge of shear drop-offs. I will never understand why people need to do stuff like that. I had a lot of fun, a few thrills and a few areas when I prudently unsaddled and walked. Bottom line: I am alive today to write this Blog!
Late afternoon the clouds rolled in, the winds began to howl and I thought Shona and I were on a one-way trip to Kansas! The Camp Host was making his rounds notifying all campers a Tornado was spotted at the Southern end of the canyon and everyone must evacuate to the only sturdy structure within miles: RESTROOMS!!!! My first question was, "Can we bring our animals?" We all headed off to our respective side of the outhouse. The females were taking no chances and were hunkered down inside, not a single one to be seen! The gents, as us macho types are known to do, stood around and "shot the breeze". There was no way 12 men were going to huddle around the urinals when the apocalypse was upon us! I must say it was a unique "meet and greet" but I think the males thoroughly enjoyed it. We all had our weather channel maps on cell phones trying to out update each other with breaking news. Two hours passed, the twister stayed south and it was time to wish our new friends "Adios for the night". That was a day and a half worth of excitement and we wasted no time falling asleep.