We have been back in the Boulder, CO area since April 20th. Apologies on not updating the site for so long. My laptop was stolen and I have had to rebuild a lot of information. After buying and setting up a new laptop, I concentrated on rebuilding our financial data and am now getting to the website. Fortunately, I was able to download the website files from our host and rebuild. I wasn’t as lucky on our financial info. I have had to re-create a lot of information. I know we will be more careful with the laptop from now on.
After we left Rockport, TX we headed for the Hill Country. Dan had a site visit at the LBJ National Historic Site. He was
Dan swimming in the Perdanales River, TX
evaluating LBJ’s summer white house as the Park Service is trying to open it to the public. The house is on the beautiful Perdanales River. We stayed at Perdnales Falls State Park. I couldn’t believe how warm the river was for April. The water is a wonderful deep green color and we found a nice private pool on the river for our swim. Dan surprised me and dove in first. I usually have to test the waters and then convince him it’s not too cold. It is good to still be pleasantly surprised by your partner after 15 years together. Wow, yes we really have been together for 15 years, we just celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and we dated for 7 years before that. The time has flown by.
On our way north from our winter Texas adventures, we spent a week at Palo Duro Canyon State Park just outside Amarillo. We weren’t impressed with Amarillo, but Palo Duro was well worth the stop for the mountain biking trails. Palo Duro is advertised as the “Grand Canyon of Texas”, this is a little bit of over-sell. The canyon is pretty and does make a nice change from the flatlands of Texas, but the trails are what make this place good. There are a lot of fun mountain bike trails with lots of variety. Want to go fast? Want to fly through some curves and whoops? Want to practice more technical skills? It’s all there, surrounded by red canyon walls and rock formations.
We stopped at Buffalo Lake Wildlife Refuge, also near Amarillo. This was our kind of place, 25 sites and we were the
Mountain Biking in Palo Duro Canyon, TX
only people there, plus it was free! Turkey and deer wandered through our site every day. Sitting at the picnic table one night I heard a munching sound and looked up to see a porcupine climbing a tree behind us. Dan enjoyed several runs through the refuge, while I stalked birds with my binoculars. The only downside was the wind. We were ready to head north and escape the wind after a week.
We are leaving for Redstone, CO on June 13 for 10 days, then returning to Boulder for a few days. We will then head north towards the headwaters of the Missouri River. We plan to follow the Missouri from its source at Three Forks, MT to its terminus with the Mississippi River in St. Louis, MO. This will take us through Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, along the Nebraska/Iowa border and across Missouri. We are stopping in Yellowstone and taking a side trip to Glacier along the way and probably meeting up with family in Alabama sometime in October/November. We have no set itinerary after Yellowstone, so we’re open to any suggestions….
