Amarillo Texas

After leaving Little Rock, Arkansas we headed over to Amarillo, Texas on our way to Colorado Springs, Colorado.  We decided to stay there a week and take in whatever sights there were.

The RV park we decided to stay in was the AOK Camper Park located off of I-40 at Exit 80.  The reason I mention this is that if you are a Passport America member you can stay there for $12.50 a night.  It wasn't fancy, but well worth the price.

Sunrise at AOK Camper Park in Amarillo, Texas.

One of the first things we did was go eat at The Big Texan Steak Ranch which is more of a tourist attraction than steak house, in my humble opinion.  

The atmosphere was great with a band playing songs, everyone was dressed up like cowboys, and the kids get their kid's meals with a cowboy hat.  They will even come get you in a limo and then take you back home, if you like.

Limousines used to pick you up at The Big Texas Steak Ranch.

It is a Route 66 attraction.

If you can eat this 72oz steak, it is yours free!

A look inside the dining room at The Big Texas Steak Ranch.

The prices were a little high and the steaks were not as good as you would have thought.  Misty ordered her's medium well and it came to the table rare.  She had it sent back and it came back just as rare as it was in the beginning.  So we had it taken off the bill since she could not eat it.  I ordered a rib-eye which was OK, but for the price I would have thought it would have been better.

It is worth going there to see it in person, but we would not eat there again since in our opinion the food quality does not warrant the price.

The next thing we went to see was the Cadillac Ranch which is a local work of art or just art.  If you click on the name above, it will take you to a good news story all about the ranch.  We painted LivelyRV.com on a couple of the Cadillacs so that we would be remembered being there for about thirty or forty minutes.  You bring your own spray paint and color them up.  It does not take long for anything you paint to be covered up by other tourists doing the same thing.

The Cadillac Ranch is in view.

Chloe, Courtney, Avery, Ian, Tia, and Ethan at the Cadillac Ranch.

Putting our mark on one of the Cadillacs.

Tia and Avery climbing onto the Cadillac that we branded with LivelyRV.com.

Cadillac Ranch.

Another site we visited was Palo Duro Canyon State Park which is located in Canyon, Texas.  It is claimed to be the second largest canyon in the United States with the Grand Canyon being the only one larger.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

Tia, Courtney, Avery, Ethan, Chloe, and Ian at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

A picture of the famous Lighthouse formation in the park from the visitor's center.

Another picture of the Lighthouse from the visitor center's telescope.

The kids all became Junior Rangers at the park and received their patches.  Unfortunately we did not have time to walk the trail to the Lighthouse formation, but if we ever go back, we will.

Another place we visited while in Amarillo, Texas was the Jack Sisemore RV Museum.  It is located at a RV dealership in the back so when you walk in just say you are there to see the museum.  The admission is free and it has a nice collection of motorcycles, RVs, and other items.  It is worth the trip to kill an hour or two.

You may recognize one of the RVs in the museum as the one in the movie RV with Robin Williams and Jeff Daniels.  If you have never watched it, then you should.  We actually rented it off of Amazon Prime to let the kids watch it.  It is rated PG and if I remember correctly, it was a pretty clean movie.

Ethan, Tia, Courtney, Chloe, Avery, and Ian at the Jack Sisemore RV Museum.

A Harley with a left sidecar.

Just some of the Harleys that are in his collection.

 

 

 

Does the red and white RV look familiar?

It is a 1948 Flxible bus used in the movie RV with Robin Williams and Jeff Daniels.

Some of the pictures from the movie RV.

There was also a mock service station in the museum.

Chloe touring one of the travel trailers in the collection.

Avery behind the wheel in the Flxible.

We also visited the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument located in Fritch, TX.  This is where the mammoth hunters got the best flint for their weapons over 13000 years ago.

While we were there the kids also earned their Junior Ranger badges, which is always a good way for them to learn some history about the park.

The kids taking the Junior Ranger oath after earning their badges.

I did manage to get some nice pieces of flint while at the quarries, which is not from the actual site, but from surrounding farms who gather it for souvenirs for the park.  It is illegal to pick up Alibates flint from the national park.

I will tumble them to shine them up and maybe make some jewelry out of the best pieces.  That will be another blog though, if I even do it.  So many things to do with so little time.

Alibates flint on the right with stones from Madagascar on the left that are going to get tumbled.

The quarries are located next to Lake Meredith National Recreation Area which at the time was very dry.  The lake is sixty three feet lower than its normal levels.

A picture in Lake Meredith which is located next to the Alibates Flint Quarries.

It was so low that most of the boat launches in the upper part of the lake are bone dry as you can tell from the below picture of our GPS.

Where's the water?

So that was our exploring while in Amarillo Texas, which was quite a bit.  Now we will be heading to Colorado Springs, CO to see what all we can explore there.

We are blessed to be able to travel the way we do and thank God everyday for His blessings and His son Jesus who saved us from our sins.  God bless and safe travels.

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

Twenty states visited so far.