about 20 miles south of Amarillo, is said to be the second largest canyon in the United States, which must be galling to those Texans who think their state is supposed have the biggest of everything. Still, it’s a beautiful spot.

We camped in Palo Duro (Spanish for hard wood) for two nights. It’s quite a different experience from visiting the Grand Canyon. The park and campgrounds are on the canyon floor. Palo Duro is not nearly as deep as the Grand Canyon. It’s kind of fun looking up at the canyon walls.

We did one easy hike, called the Paseo del Rio, the Rio in this case being the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. Along the trail was a cowboy dugout, a hut built into a hillside from the days when much of the canyon was a cattle ranch.

The cowboy dugout

Robin and Teddy on the trail

We woke this morning to a thunderstorm, but we’re headed for Oklahoma anyway.