The Three L’s Travel The West

Another late start today, but that’s good.  We are getting very good rest and enjoying our vacation.  I fixed French toast for everyone, and then we started packing up for our visit to Palo Duro Canyon.  We made sandwiches and packed up the cooler full of water, pop, and food.   

It’s about a 25 minute drive to the Canyon from April’s home.  The road is straight and flat.  We could see for miles around us.  Hard to believe there would be a canyon nearby.  We saw horses, longhorn cattle, and the occasional dead snake in the road. 

We reached the canyon and drove up to pay our entry fee.  The ranger there commented “Or-ee-gone? Whatcha’ all doin’ here?” I told him I couldn’t tell him unless he said it right. To which he replied: “I’m from Texas.  I don’t have to.”  Then he went on to explain about the high fire danger and no fires in the canyon today.  I thanked him and drove on. 

We drove into the canyon, and it was amazing.  Looked like a mini version of the Grand Canyon, but not so deep.  The stream that ran through the bottom of it was muddy red, and April told me that if it got on your clothes, consider them rags.  The dirt all around was red.  We found a picnic bench and spread out our food.  The air smelled of mesquite and was very hot and dry.  While we were eating, several different birds serenaded us, and Louie spotted a cardinal.  He also found a lizard and a snake as well.   

After we finished our sandwiches and Crush orange pop, we headed out for a small hiking trail we saw that lead to a cave in the side of the canyon.  There were deer hoof prints in the red soil, also with horse tracks and other animals that I dared not think about.  Louie and Lynnae opted to climb into the cave, and I stood at the bottom and took pictures.  It was a great little break for them, and they explored all around the area. 

Trekked back to the car and headed toward the park exit.  We stopped at the snack/gift shop and picked up a few items.  Louie found a little cactus that grows in a small container that he will be bringing home.  Very cute! 

We arrived back at April’s house where she had put a pork roast in the crock-pot and it smelled great!  We threw in potatoes and it was done in about two hours after that.  Her recipe is as follows: 

1  3 to 4 lb. Boneless pork roast

2 packages of McCormick’s brown gravy

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

pepper to taste

water to cover roast

peeled carrots (cut to bite size pieces)

peeled potatoes 

Add all ingredients except potatoes. Cook on low about five hours, then add potatoes and increase to high heat for about an hour until potatoes are done.  It was by far one of the best pork roasts I’ve ever had (sorry, Mom).  So simple and tender.  We had Blue Bell Chocolate Chip cookie dough ice cream for dessert and watched X-Men 3. 

Kids were in bed by 10:30 and April and I chatted until midnight.  Talked to Stacey for a few minutes by phone and recapped her day.  Touched base with my dad and found out how things are going at home.  Must have fallen asleep around midnight to the sound of the air conditioner.  

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.