Camping With The Kids

So for Heidi's birthday/Memorial Day weekend, we decided to take the kids to Palo Duro Canyon for a little tent camping.

We drove up to Lubbock on Wednesday, stayed at Heidi's parent's place that night, & then went out to the canyon on Thursday morning. We spent Thursday afternoon setting up camp.

Thursday night was a full moon, so we went with the Park Ranger on a full moon hike. As we were meeting up for the hike, I saw (& caught) a horny toad. It was the first time any of us had ever seen one in the wild. We hiked out to a ridge overlooking the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River & watched the moon rise over the top of the canyon. It was absolutely amazing. Amaria had a wonderful time...except when we had to stop the hike to listen to the Ranger tell her stories. In Amaria's words, "Hiking is not standing around listening to someone talk."

We all slept great that night, although it did get a little cold. By 3:00 a.m., all 4 of us were piled onto our queen sized air mattress trying to stay warm.

Friday was a very full day. After cooking some breakfast, we headed into the town of Canyon (Home of West Texas A&M) & toured the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum. It was amazing how many different things were in there. We spent almost 4 hours there & didn't get to see everything. Amaria especially enjoyed the parts on the dinosaurs found in the Panhandle & all the Indian stuff...along with riding side saddle for a brief moment.

The scariest part was when she had to make a daring escape from an Allosaurus!

Heidi & I found the old cars & bikes really cool. Those dorks from American Pickers would've had an absolute blast in that section. I highly recommend going (& allowing yourself at least 6 hours) if you ever get the chance.

From there we proceeded north to Amarillo & the Cadillac Ranch. Using Amaria's favorite color--purple--we spray painted her & Cam's names' on a couple of cars. It was a short stay, but worth checking out.

Then it was time for a late lunch at the biggest tourist trap in the Panhandle--The Big Texan. We were able to watch a biker dude fail at eating the 72 oz. steak & take a few pictures in the big rocking chair, but we couldn't stay long...still so many other things to do.

We continued east out to Groom to see what is labeled as the 2nd largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere. I had seen pictures of the cross before, but they do NOT do it justice. I couldn't believe how big it was. We actually saw it from 10 miles away driving down I-40. It was an amazing sight & experience. After viewing all the different stations & taking lots of pictures, our day of traveling was done. We took some back roads on the way to the Park & got back just in time to cook some hamburgers for dinner & call it a night.

Saturday got started early, but, as we would soon learn, not early enough. We decided that Saturday was going to be a hiking day, & the best place to hike to inside the Palo Duro Canyon State Park is to the Lighthouse. It's a 3 mile trek out there, & of course, you still have to make it back. I knew Heidi & I could handle it, but I was a little concerned about Amaria walking that far without getting too tired....but my wife had all the faith in the world in each of us, & decided that was the trail to take. So I strapped on a backpack full of water, Gatorade, first aid kit, knives, snacks, etc. & Heidi strapped on Cambree in a baby backpack.

The hike out was unbelieveable--lots of cool sights & rock formations. Cambree was perfect & slept most of the way. Amaria fussed a little during the first half mile or so, but was good to go the rest of the way. After a couple of hours, we arrived at the Lighthouse.

It was well worth the trip. What an amazing structure that God has created. The hike back was a little tougher. We didn't get started early enough, & it was beginning to get hot on the way back. Cambree was still perfect, but Amaria was starting to get a little tired. I ended up carrying her on my shoulders for a mile on the return trip, but we all made it back in one piece & were all better off for it. That afternoon, Heidi's parents came up to hang out with us. We toured the Musuem inside the park, explored a "cave", & cooked some steaks for dinner.

Amaria decided that she wanted to hang out with her Nana & Grampy, so they took the girls back to Lubbock with them on Saturday night. (We all wouldn't know how fortunate we were to have the girls in Lubbock until the following morning.) That evening, Heidi & I took a short hike on a trail just down from our camp & added to the different wildlife we had seen on the trip when we came across a mule deer & a tarantula. Those, along with all the white tail & turkey, really added to the trip. It seemed like we were seeing some type of animal everywhere we turned.That was the fun part of the trip. The bad started on Sunday morning when we were loading up to head home. I don't want to dwell on the negative of what was an absolutely amazing trip, but to make a long story short--truck won't start, no cell phone signal in bottom of canyon, starter has gone out, tow truck driver in Canyon out of town til Tuesday, 4 wheel drive truck & a steep grade to get out of canyon makes it almost impossible to find a tow truck, truck gets towed to Amarillo, service center closed on Memorial Day, can't get starter on Tuesday, truck finally gets repaired on Wednesday morning....long day going from Lubbock to Amarillo back to Lubbock & then home to Pflugerville on Wednesday.

We really enjoyed our first tent camping experience with the girls, & we are already looking for the next place to go. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks for reading & God bless!