“The stars at night Are big and bright Deep in the heart of Texas
The prairie sky Is wide and high Deep in the heart of Texas…”
Driving across northern Texas is similar to the Canadian Prairies, except the dominant crop is cotton.Even the cotton balls are supersized in Texas! lolAfter the sun set over the canyon wall, Betty & I used the “SkyView” app on my phone to identify bright stars in a dark sky with no light pollution. The canyon was also amazingly quiet, both day and night.
The song Deep In The Heart of Texas, was written by June Hershey and recorded by a number of artists in 1942 – including singing cowboy Gene Autry. It came to mind last week as Betty & I watched the stars in the clear night sky at the ever-amazing Palo Duro Canyon State Park, just south of Amarillo, Texas. We have covered a lot of territory since our last post, with almost all deep in the heart of this supersized state. So this post is a bit of a catch-up.
Our well-treed, full-service site at Lovin’ Life RV Park cost $45./night.
After our new tire was installed in Clarksville, Arkansas, Betty & I made our way to a nice little campground called Lovin’ Life RV Park, just west of Texarkana. It is owned and operated by Sirron & Nicole, who obviously have a deeply warm heart for Texas. We stayed a few days while Tom Dansby of RV Medic and Solar installed four new lithium batteries in our coach. What a joy to be able to maintain and monitor our power supply while boondocking!
Tom Dansby worked right at our site to remove 4 lead acid batteries, and install 4 new Battle Born lithium iron phosphate batteries in an enclosed, insulated compartment.Along with our inverter/charger, our new batteries fit nicely into an insulated compartment.An app on my phone now provides detailed info about our new batteries, including temperature and state of charge.Tom installed another battery monitor inside our coach. Betty wants me to mention how excited I am, posting so many pictures of this. I could have posted more! lol
From Texarkana we headed across northern Texas, stopping for the night at a quiet rest area west of Wichita Falls.
We enjoyed nice weather and a quiet night at this rest area west of Wichita Falls, Texas.
Next day we arrived at the truly breathtaking Palo Duro Canyon, where we spent three nights in site 91 of Mesquite campground. We had originally booked six nights, but that cold front from Canada continued to chase after us. With forecasts of below freezing overnight temperatures, we decided to move back up the side of the canyon, and then on down the road to the south.
This was our second visit to Palo Duro Canyon. It is well worth the trip if you are near Amarillo, Texas.It may not be as big as the Grand Canyon, but you can drive two miles to the bottom, where a number of picturesque campgrounds are situated.On switch-backs down the canyon side, one constantly has the feeling of going deep into the heart of Texas.Where’s that road again?Our site (#91) in Mesquite campground was $22./night, including water & 50 amp service.The site included a pergola, sturdy picnic table on a cement pad, a fire pit and a breathtaking view in all directions!Betty sews in the 23c sunshine, after taking a hike on one of the many canyon trails.
We are currently in site #85 of Guadalupe River State Park, just north of San Antonio, and are hoping to make the mandatory visit to the Riverwalk tomorrow.
Betty works on a new quilt at site 85 in Guadalupe River State Park, while Charlie rests nearby.Our large, nicely wooded site includes water, 50 amp service, fire pit and picnic table for $21./night. It is currently 22c here in San Antonio, with a forecast for 24c tomorrow and 27c on Monday. Yeah!
The Texas Society of Professional Surveyors (measuring by satellite the exact distance between the state’s four borders) places the “geodetic” center of Texas 18.5 miles west-southwest of Eden. And it was in a rest stop deep in the heart of Texas – just outside of Eden – that we spent a quiet night between Amarillo and San Antonio. While you can’t get much closer to the heart of Texas than that, we continue to be blessed by the friendliness of the good people we have met so far in this state where everything just seems a little bigger.
“The coyotes wail Along the trail Deep in the heart of Texas
The cowboys cry “Ka-yippie aye!” (Woo-hoo!) Deep in the heart of Texas
The doggies bawl And say “you all” Deep in the heart of Texas”
Cheers y’all!
Here’s a new quilt Betty made since our visit to Hamilton, Missouri, along with a pair of matching pillow cases.The back of our new quilt, which Betty made while we were at Lovin’ Life RV Park near Texarkana.For those who remember our earlier trip to Amarillo (April 27, 2018): No visit is complete without a stop at Edes Meat Market. Here is one of the mouth-watering rib-eyes we picked up this week. Yum!From the 150 pictures we took in this magnificent canyon, it’s hard to edit down to just a few…A last twist in the road. If your path is not straight, may it at least be eventful. Cheers!
