Palo Duro Canyon State Park Visit Canceled

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Had a good night’s sleep and late this morning, we got ready for a visit to the Palo Duro Canyon SP on a beautiful warm day.  We drove around to the front of the RV Park, which is only a quarter mile from the entrance to the park and there were vehicles with red lights flashing on the road right in front of the entrance. Pulled up and the fire marshal said the park was closed for the day.  Should be open tomorrow.  What a bummer!

Let’s back up a little.  Last evening when we arrived, there were several campers at the registration desk talking about being told to leave the State Park campground because there was a small fire in the park valley that was spreading.  They seemed to think it would soon be out and they would go back in the morning.  I didn’t think much of it, so I did not mention it in my previous post because I thought it would not affect us.

Evidently, the fire was harder to get to than the camper’s thought and this morning the fire fighters were still working on putting it out before the winds picked up.  There is a high wind warning for this afternoon, with winds gusting over 50 mph.

So, we came back to the motorhome and Fergie and I rested in the warm sunshine. After all the resting I could handle, I went for a walk and took some pictures around the area while Dolly gave Fergie a bath.  

Almost everyone has already left.   Overnight, the water main broke here at the park, plus this place is rundown and I would not consider it a resort by any means.  Luckily, before the main broke, I filled our water tank by mistake last night, so we have plenty of water for the remainder of our vacation.  With it being pretty much empty, we have lots of privacy. 

The resort also has a zip line. Walked down to the canyon behind the resort and watched the zip liners.

Launch pad	Landing zone
Old wagon	Teepee

As I write this blog, the wind is blowing dust everywhere and the motorhome is rocking.  I have everything battened down and just hope we don’t turn over in this gale.  Supposed to get down to freezing tonight and with this gale it will feel very cold.  Went down to the zip line and took a picture of the canyon with all the dust and compared it to photo I took this morning.

No dust

Dust

I know you guys in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois are bracing for a big snow storm, so I guess I feel lucky to only have to worry about dust in my teeth and a little sea sickness.

See you later.