A Trip To The Park

After lunch on my solo day in Amarillo, I decided to drive out to Palo Duro Canyon, which is about 25 miles south of Amarillo. It was an amazing drive - a huge blue Texas sunny sky, an open road and almost NO ONE ELSE! I loved it!

When I got to the state park entrance, I had to go in and get a map and pay the $5 entry fee. Here's the cute little state park building!

And just off of the state park parking lot, I saw a bunch of longhorns that were eating their lunch....They were so cute!

Apparently you can join them and they serve you lunch and you can watch the longhorns eat theirs. So funny!

Just like I promised when I received Paco on my birthday, here is a shot of Paco at Palo Duro Canyon with me. It's his first real trip and he loved it! lol

And here's me - courtesy of some nice fellow tourists that offered to take my picture by the canyon.

While I was there, I learned that this is the second biggest canyon - the first is the Grand Canyon. It was huge and VERY Texified!

There was hardly anyone on the roads through the State Park, so I had the luxury of going really slow and enjoying the scenery without feeling rushed. It was absolutely beautiful and the weather couldn't have been more perfect!

Here's my self-portrait down in the canyon!

I had all the time in the world (and some patience - not sure where that came from!), so I played around with the timer on my camera - how's this for a fancy-pants self portrait! I hit the 10 second timer and then crawled up that little hill with a bruised tailbone and got in place in time. A skill for sure!

Another self-portrait of me on the side of the road out of the canyon. So gorgeous and that windy road was exciting!

I thought I better get out of the canyon since the sun was starting to set and I didn't want to run into any of the nighttime wildlife (rattle snakes, scorpions, coyotes, etc.)....

And if you were ever wondering if Amarillo looks like what you imagine, IT DOES. I pictured dry, open land with cattle - and here it is! This is between the canyon and Amarillo....

Amarillo By Morning

About a week ago, Cindy and I embarked on a journey to Amarillo! But because of some last minute complications, she had to delay her flight a day, so I spent Friday exploring Amarillo on my own and then she arrived on Saturday morning. We had a blast!

So I started out my solo day at a restaurant that the airport advertising suggested: Blue Sky!

It has won the 'Best Burger in Amarillo' award for a number of years now.....and I would have to agree with the award committee! The food was fantastic.

It was kind of a weird place with all of the bumper stickers on the walls, but I loved reading them while I was waiting in line.....

It was a VERY "Texas" restaurant - even having a "Texas Proud" bumper sticker by the pop machine.

Here's the very first panhandle cowboy that I saw on the trip. He fit the stereotype of what I thought I would find in Amarillo!

I would highly recommend this restaurant if you're ever in Amarillo - I know, I know, "who goes to AMARILLO?" Well, the answer is: CINDY AND I!

Riding Like Royalty

My favorite thing that Renee, Sara & I did in the Stockyards was a stagecoach ride! I absolutely INSISTED on it. I have never seen this in the Stockyards before, so I'm not sure if it's a new thing or just a special event that day, but I just HAD to take advantage of it!

Here is a man and his son getting in the stagecoach for a ride...

And here are the 'engines' to the vehicle. So cute!

And they're off!

Now it's our turn - I was SO STOKED!

Here we are just before we took off on our stagecoach ride!

This was my view from inside....

Here's Renee cheesin' for the camera. I bet it would be pretty at night too - with the lights on.

Sara and I, enjoying the bumpy ride through the Stockyards.....

It was a great little ride - so glad we did it!

Cowtown Fun

Well, my latest visitors were Renee and Sara! They flew in on a Friday night and stayed until Monday afternoon. We had a great time and this first post is our adventures in Cowtown (Fort Worth)....

Here's Renee at the Fort Worth Water Gardens - one of my favorite places!

Renee and I made the trek down into the loud, beautiful fountains.

Sara didn't feel too good about going down into them...I don't blame her - it's scarier than it looks in photos! It took me several times going there before I went to the very bottom.

Renee and Sara at the "aerated pool" - so cute!

Here are Renee and I at the bottom of the fountains!

A pretty rainbow in one of the pools...

On to the Stockyards.....Sara is riding her buckin' bronco at H3 Steakhouse - I just love those saddle bar stools!

A little disturbing that a real, stuffed buffalo butt is attached to the mirror behind the bar....BIZARRE.

And no trip to the Stockyards would be complete without some rodeo action! Here are some cowboys waiting for their turn at calf roping....

AMEN!

Fire In The Hole!

So today's post is going to be awfully random and actually rather mindless....When Renee and Sara were in town, we went out for a drink at Houlihan's. What we didn't know was that we were going to see some pyrotechnics while we were there!

There were some crazy bartenders who were starting drinks on fire and we happened to be sitting near the action (my ear even got hot when the flames ignited!)....

Here's the stack of martini glasses and the drink at the top. They poured lighter fluid or something down the glasses and then the bartender blew fire out of his mouth and started everything on fire!

Here go the flames!

My camera missed the huge poof of big flames, but it did catch this weird combination of smoke and flames from the bartender to the drinks....

I'm not sure why this amused me so, but it did! Oh, and then another guy accidentally tipped over all of the glasses/drinks and they smashed all over the place. HAHA!

Love & War

Recently, my friend April's Mom came into town from Kansas to visit. I really wanted to meet her, so we arranged to go out to dinner right before I picked Renee and Sara up from the airport. We ate at Love & War in Texas - a restaurant in Grapevine. I had never heard of it before, but it sounded right up my alley!

Randy Foster was playing that night (they have bands playing on an outdoor stage), but we were kind of pressed for time and it was crowded outside, so we ate inside.

They had food from all of the different climates/regions of Texas - so cool! Look at this item from the "Hill Country" (just north of San Antonio).....ROASTED WILD BOAR?!?! ICK!!!

Here are April and her Mom, Linn. Linn was a riot! She is full-blooded Italian from Long Island, NY originally, so she was a feisty lady and I loved it!

There was a LOT of Texas history around the restaurant. I especially liked the one that says "Come and take it" with a cannon on it!

They are known for their live music and Texas culture - and they definitely lived up to it.

Lots of stars, lots of Texas flags - lots of flair!

I think that the Texas flag is the prettiest one there is.....but I'm pretty biased!

They even made Linn's cornbread in the shape of Texas!

And here's some sort of flaming dish - bizarre!

Aside from the Texas awesomeness, we had a terrible waiter situation - 2 different waiters were fighting over who's table we were, so they both refused to give us up. They both served us and talked bad about the other the whole time! I felt like I was a child caught in a nasty divorce! It was by FAR the weirdest dining experience I have ever had. This is Lauren pretending to be traumatized......well, maybe she wasn't pretending..... :)