Finally feels like fall in Texas

Texas is cooling down and is actually getting cold. Of course there is no snow to go along with it which makes me sad, but I am happy that I can finally wear my coat and boots. Over the weekend we went camping at two different State Parks in Texas, Palo Duro Canyon and Caprock Canyon.

Our first stop was at Palo Duro Canyon. Its about a three and half hour drive and we left Thursday evening after Colby got home from work. Once we made it to the park we were very disappointed and surprised because the gate was locked blocking the entrance and exit of the park. We had to drive to the nearest town, which was Amarillo and stay in a hotel because I don't camp on the side of roads like some people do. :) The next morning at the gate they couldn't give us a good reason why it was locked other than that that is how they work things at this state park, which is ridiculous because no other state parks do that. We would know. We have been to a ton of them. Then on top of it all they closed the most popular hiking trail in the whole park for a "private function." Needless to say, I was kind of a grouch all day because no one knew how to do their job. But besides all of that the views were amazing for a Texas Canyon and we had fun riding our bikes in the valley along the creek and enjoyed the beautiful fall colors of the leaves. We plan to go again sometime next year.

Paseo del Rio Trail = great for biking!!

I just love all the pretty fall colors! 

Capital Peak

While driving in between the state parks I wanted to take some pictures of the cotton fields in Texas.
Did you know that: “Cotton is still king, in that Texas is the largest cotton-producing state in the U.S. and the number one crop grown in the state in terms of value,” said Tony Williams, executive director of the Texas Cotton Ginners Association.
It is pretty awesome! Click here to learn more. 

There is a ton of Cotton in Texas and I think it is pretty cool how a plant makes cotton and then it is used to make clothes that we wear! 

Our Next stop was Caprock Canyon (about 1.5 hours south of Palo Duro). This state park is home to the "official bison herd of Texas." The bison can roam freely within the park wherever their heart desires. It is pretty sweet to see them roaming from the safety of the car, but in our campsite and on our hike not so much, which is where we did see quite a few of them. Unlike Palo Duro state park we were able to get into Caprock with no problem after office hours because naturally the gate was open. We picked a place to camp ahead of time and when we arrived we met three huge bison enjoying the grass around our fire ring and picnic table. It was a sight to see not only because they were huge, but because right before we pulled into our camp, Colby was reassuring me that the Bison wouldn't be down in the valley where our camp sight was. hahahahaha We had a good laugh about that. We had to wait for them to move on a little away from our camp, so we could set up and they did. But they came back after about 15 minutes, so we had to get back in the car and wait again. There was one bison that kept staring us down from inside our car and we thought he might ram it, but lucky for us he didn't. We finally got camp set up after dark and it started getting cold. It's a good thing we brought lots of blankets with our sleeping bags because it got down to 36 degrees outside! I was so happy and toasty warm in our small tent. I love camping in the cold weather; it is much more comfortable than sleepy in hot sticky weather.

Reflection

Yes, that would be our campsite...site #62

The next day we went on a few hikes and I was a little nervous that we would encounter more bison on the trail and I wanted to stay as far away from them as possible. And of course on our second hike of the day we were almost to our car and could see it in the distance, but another three huge bison were on the trail grazing on the grass. So we had to take a bit of a detour to go around them. This place again offers amazing views of red rock canyons and valleys with beautiful fall colors. I'm glad we got to experience the fall colors at least somewhere :)

Red beds with Gypsum veins

Wave ripples preserved in sandstone with a Gypsum vien

Found a terrified mouse hiding

The bison we had to walk around and avoid while on our hike. Note: that bison is on the trail, not us!

The Natural  Bridge that formed from Gypsum dissolution and collapse

There is a lot of gypsum here!!!

Oh, and one last thing, in case any one is wondering....I would like a Texas waffle maker for Christmas! ;)