An update, and Palo Duro Canyon

Amarillo Ranch RV Park
Amarillo, TX

One of the reasons we came to Amarillo on our way to California

is to get my annual doctor visit out of the way.

As most of you know, I'm on Obamacare,

and being a full-timer has its issues with health care.

This year my plan changed over to an HMO from a PPO,

so that means being in Texas for anything health related.

When we stayed in Livingston in January

I picked a doctor there, but it was too early to

get my annual visit in :-(

Fast forward to this summer,

and I find out that a) my doctor left the practice,

and b) the partner wouldn't refill any of my meds

without seeing me first!

George and I really didn't want to drive all that way south,

preferring to head to CA on I40,

so....

after a bit of searching, 

I found a new doctor here in Amarillo.

I had an appointment all set up for last Thursday,

which would have been plenty of time to get out of here last Monday.

Unfortunately she had to go out of town,

so they rescheduled me for Monday early.

We thought that we would be able to still leave that day,

but she thought it was important to get my

mammogram and bone density scan done before leaving.

So....

that is scheduled for Monday :-)

I really like this doctor, however.

She's younger, has an all female practice,

only sees females, and is very proactive.

All of these changes have postponed

 our plans to meet my cousin in Ventura,

they won't be there anymore :-(

In the meantime...

we ate lunch at the famous Big Texan Steak Ranch.

We've seen it on Food Network,

and decided the lunch portions were better :-)

They're famous for the 72 ounce steak challenge..

eat a whole 72 ounces of steak,

and the meal that goes with it,

in under an hour, and it's free!

Otherwise it costs you $72!

Ridiculous..

The countdown clock

The other day we also drove to Palo Duro Canyon

It's not a far drive from Amarillo,

and the vistas are just beautiful!

 

The little visitors' center has some great history

about the CCC, and their building of the winding road

to the bottom of the canyon in 1938.

It was a beautiful drive!

Our plans are to hopefully leave here on Tuesday,

and head to California.

Cool old RVs

Amarillo Ranch RV Park
Amarillo, TX

We've had a few rainy days here.

George got new tires put on the truck

the other day while I vegged out.

Yesterday we took a ride over

to the doctor's office.

I had to pick a new doc as the doctor

I saw in Livingston left the practice.

We didn't really want to go all the way south

to Livingston, so I found a new one here in Amarillo.

Unfortunately, she was called away for some reason,

and they had tried to get me by phone.

Hmm, no messages!

So...

now I have a rescheduled appointment on Monday,

the day we're supposed to leave!

Grrrrr..

They're getting me in early,

so hopefully it won't screw up our plans going forward.

On Wednesday we drove over to

Jack Sizemore Traveland.

Our friends Ray & Wendy told us it's not to be missed!

Jack is an RV dealer, but he has this great RV museum

behind his dealership.

George really enjoyed all the old motorcycles..

Jack has an incredible collection of old RVs.

What's cool is that all RVs are open,

and you can go in each one.

Most of them are all original,

some are restored.

I highly recommend checking it out!

It's free too :-)

Today is warm and sunny,

so we're going to go check out

Palo Duro Canyon!

Some time in Amarillo

Amarillo Ranch RV Park
Amarillo, TX

After a nice summer working in Custer,

it was time to move on.

We took route 385 and 287 south,

which passed through Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma,

and finally Texas.

We didn't get off until almost 11 am from Custer,

as true to form for us,

the truck wouldn't start!

George bought an Edge Evolution chip

for the truck to boost the power on hills.

We're not exactly sure what happened yet,

but it drained the battery (both of them!) completely!

Thank goodness for the park's truck,

we got a jump and were on our way.

The plan was to drive about 350 miles,

stopping halfway somewhere for the night.

Via the power of Google,

I found a great little place in Kit Carson, CO

called the Trading Post.

I called ahead to make sure it was ok to

overnight in the parking lot.

We did pop in and have a piece of pie,

and had a great breakfast before heading out.

Yesterday we started out at 7 am,

and had smooth sailing

all the way to Amarillo.

The RV park here is nice,

and our site is perfect.

After getting set up we took a ride to pick up a few groceries.

One place I wanted to see while we're here was

Cadillac Ranch,

which isn't too far from where we are staying.

If you have never heard about it you can click

on the link above,

but basically it is an art installation,

that was put up in 1974.

For years people trudge through the corn field

to see it and with spray can of paint in hand,

make their mark on these Cadillacs.

We met a couple who are staying

in the same park,

and we obliged them by taking their

picture, and they in turn took ours :-)

I'm glad it's a free installation,

and we thought it was a quirky thing to see.

Didn't bring a can of spray paint, however :-)

Today George is out getting new tires on the truck,

and a front end alignment.

It's foggy and gray outside,

so it may be a relaxing jammie day for me!

I have a doctor appointment tomorrow,

and we have other things to see while we're here!

Some social time, and a tour of Wind Cave

Buffalo Ridge Camp Resort
Custer, SD

George and I are in our last week in Custer!

It's starting to feel like fall here,

and we've had the fireplace on during the cool mornings and evenings.

There has been some rain storms lately..

..which always reward us with nice rainbows.

The deer are back now that the park is thinning out..

..and lots of turkeys!

We're getting our last bit of social time in with friends.

John & Jane Dean were staying in nearby Spearfish,

and came down to Custer to have lunch with us.

We ate at the Buglin' Bull, which has become

one of our favorite places to eat while we've been here.

Last time we saw them was in Campbellsville a couple years ago.

It was so nice to catch up with them again!

George and I have been wanting to get together with

Ray & Wendy again as well.

We made a date for today to explore Wind Cave National Park.

It was on our list of things to do,

so we were glad when Ray suggested we do that today.

They picked us up, and after a great breakfast at Our Place,

we headed over to the park.

It was a perfect day to do this, as it was gray & dreary out.

Using our VIP passes, we were able to save $6.00 each

and took the Natural Entrance Cave Tour.

One of the first explorers to find an entrance to the cave

was Alvin McDonald in 1890.

He kept a journal, writing things down on paper

with a pencil, and using candles to light his way.

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt

signed a bill creating Wind Cave National Park.

It was the eighth national park to be named,

and the first cave to be protected.

Our guide, Hannah gave us a bit of history

of the cave, and showed us the first entrance.

We descended down several series of stairs,

stopping every so often to see different features.

Hannah pointed out frostwork and popcorn..

We made our way through tight passageways of the cave,

and there were more stairs, 300 in all!

Wind Cave is known for the abundance of  'boxwork',

which is calcite which was revealed as the limestone eroded away.

We concluded the tour with an elevator back up to the ground level.

The tour took us down 22 stories!

On the way back Ray took us down NPS road 5,

which had some great vistas of the prairie

in Wind Cave National Park.

Of course, the drive wouldn't be complete without

seeing these magnificent creatures..

..and wonderful wildflowers..

..and a great old one room schoolhouse.

We ended our day with ice cream at the Purple Pie Place.

Wendy surprised me by giving me one of the 

beautiful pine needle baskets she creates.

I think it will go very nicely with my new buffalo carving!