We left by 7:15AM on Monday the 26th and spent the day driving south towards Amarillo, TX. To be precise, to the Palo Duro Canyon State Park RV Campground Martha had selected as our overnight destination.
We were enroute to Austin, TX you see, to visit with friends in the area over the last week of 2016.
The first day was spent on the slabs, nothing much to report except for crossing a new state line for Uma:
We drove through Amarillo as the sun was setting in the western sky, arriving at the camp site as darkness descended. The campsite turned out to be at the bottom of what Texas claims is the second biggest canyon in the US. We have our doubts as to that claim.
A shot of the Canyon from the scenic overlook before we lost the light
However, the campsite was definitely deep enough that we got no cellphone coverage and of course it being a state park, there was no wi-fi internet access either. The horror. Still, there was water and electrical hookups and I only had mild issues backing the trailer into the "back-in" spot that was available to us. The rumors of pull-through spots at the campsite in question proved false unfortunately.
Bright and early the next morning, as the sun was still below the horizon, we packed up and made our way back towards the rim of the canyon. Cellphone coverage regained and after checking in with the boys and checking for work emails, we enjoyed the sunrise from the scenic overlook near the main entrance to the park.
Our view of the dawn as we broke camp
Sunrise at the Scenic Overlook, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX
Martha shot this pic from near the visitor center
The rest of Tuesday was spent driving from the Amarillo TX area to Austin, TX. Long, long day or driving on county and state roads, following the GPS guidance.
We did skirt around Abilene, TX and took this shot:
On the RV to Abilene....
Why the above shot you might wonder. It's all part of a running joke I have with Martha, based on a lesson about group think I learned while attending an Army school.
It details, how group think can be dangerous, leading a unit to reach the wrong decision because each person thinks he's helping/agreeing with the other persons in the group. Before you know it, the decision has been made for everyone to board the "bus to Abilene" when in reality, no one wanted to go there.
More on the Abilene Paradox
We got to our RV park in the southern portion of Austin city limits just in time for rush hour and and what a joy it was to drive an RV in rush hour.
Still we made it unscathed, and in the dark, around 6:00PM I think. Found our welcome packet, found our site, got settled in and will be calling it an early night again. Very tired from driving.
We'll be in the Austin area till the 2nd of January, more to follow.
8 comments:
That's quite the road trip. The canyon looks pretty interesting and wonderful dawn and sunrise pictures. Austin is a pretty interesting city (as cities go). Be sure to try and catch the bats leaving the bridge. It's pretty impressive. Kind of like the bats coming out of Carlsbad Caverns.
Are you sure that you both really wanted to go to Abilene?
Beautiful sunrise pictures. Isn't it weird... the things that strike us with horror these days? Hook-ups, check. Water, check. No internet, no cell phone coverage. OMG! (I am aware in your case it's part of your being able to work).
I remember my camping days some twenty years ago (roughing it in a tent) the worst that could happen were the lack of hygiene in the wash rooms ;-)
Enjoy your trip!
What a great way to end the year! Enjoy the trip, even the driving part, and have a continued safe journey.
RichardM, you ain't seen nothing yet re the road trip! As to the bats, which I didn't know about beforehand, it seems it's only between March and October that they do their nightly swarming out of the bridge....
SonjaM, from what we saw of Abilene, nothing there for either of us! Yeah, we both found the lack of commo a bit disturbing....Martha because we couldn't check on the boys and vice versa (Patrick was worried) and me because work couldn't reach me. It was a day off for me of course due to the Christmas holidays but still, in a small company, one is always on call.
AZ AD, thanks for the well wishes. The driving is fine, just kind of boring the parts of Texas we drove through to get here.
Those sunrise pictures of you breaking camp sure are pretty.
Thank you Trobairitz, we were pretty much ready to move out at that time, so might as well take pictures!
Texas claims everything is big...but still...that's a great spot to camp! Safe travels and have a great adventure!
motoventures, truly an enormous state....thanks and Happy New Year!
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