On April 30th, after a peaceful night in the Amarillo Visitor Information Center parking lot and another quick trip to Buc-ee’s next door, we drove to our next recommended destination, the Jack Sizemore RV Museum. Thanks, Dave for the recommendation. This museum was amazing! It’s a relatively small museum but has some real jewels, especially if you are an RVer. Definitely worth the time and there was no charge, although they do appreciate donations.
Entering the museum
This motorhome was featured in the Robin William’s movie RV
The inside was modified for the movie
One of the oldest RVs in the museum
Worlds oldest Airstream travel trailer
1976 FMC motorhome
The museum also hosts a few race cars …
… and motorcycles.
This was our favorite motorcycle in the museum.
After our visit to the museum we headed west to New Mexico with a quick stop at the famous Route 66 attraction “Cadillac Ranch”.
On the way out of Amarillo we stopped at Braum’s ice cream for the first time since we worked in Muskogee in 2023.
The ten cars at Cadillac ranch.
Some had paint over a foot thick.
We wouldn’t want to stay parked here very long for fear of getting spray painted.
Between Cadillac Ranch and the New Mexico state line we crossed the midpoint of Route 66 in Adrian, TX.
On April 29th after saying sad see you laters, we left Lubbock bound for Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Canyon, Texas. We had heard it is a great place for hiking and Dave and Carol had given us some pointers. We arrived and checked out the visitor center which has several displays illustrating the history and geology of the canyon. It is the second largest canyon in the US. From there we drove down into the canyon to hike the most popular trail in the park – Lighthouse Trail. It is named after Lighthouse Rock (the destination) which is a 310′ tall erosion resistant spire in the canyon. The trail is about 3 miles each way and classified as “moderate”.
There is a very nice visitor center and museum as you enter the park.
Looking into the canyon
Inside the canyon
The most popular trail in the park
A highlight of the hike was seeing this roadrunner on the trail.
The trail was easy …
… until it wasn’t.
Made it to the lighthouse
After a wonderful hike we drove to Amarillo and spent the night at a Amarillo Visitor Information Center.
The Amarillo Visitor Information Center is conveniently located next to a Buc-ee’s.
We saw this sign in the visitor center and wondered if the streak was somehow related to the 80 mph speed limits in Texas.
Sunday morning April 26 we said goodbye to our sweet lakeside home at Johnson Creek and started a long drive across Texas. We made it to Clyde Travel Center, in Clyde, Texas a distance of about 340 miles. Because it was going to be very warm that night and we wanted to run the air conditioner all night, we spent the night in their RV park. It is much like the Love’s RV parks, but less expensive. The next morning we made our way to Abilene, TX, the “Official Storybook Capital of America”. It gets this designation due to its storybook character sculptures which you can find all over downtown. We had to stop to see Mr. Grinch and others such as The Lorax, Horton Hears a Who!, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham Sam I Am, and Yertle the Turtle. It was a fun stop and a great place to stretch our legs.
Abilene’s story book park
Cat in the Hat
Family Photo
Which one?
From there we made it to Lubbock, Texas the home of two more dear friends, Dave and Carol. They had moved into a new house since our last visit. We did some sightseeing such as visiting Lubbock Lake Landmark, a national historic landmark. We had great barbeque and Mexican food but most importantly we sat out on their patio and just caught up with each other. A recent death of a dear friend has reminded us to not take any of these visits for granted. They are all precious. On April 29 we said our “see-you-laters” and continued northward.
Sunset in Lubbock at Dave and Carol’s house
Hiking at Lake Lubbock
The ancient Lubbock Lake was very large. This is what is left today.
On Tuesday, April 14th, we arrived at River Ridge Retreat in Guntersville, AL for the Alabama Switch It Up Huddle. We arrived a couple of days early so we could just get some rest and catch up on some paperwork. Of course, the fact that it gave us two extra days to visit with friends who also came early was a big perk. We also got to meet some of the new members of the crew who also came in early, so it was a wonderful two days. We were parked in a waterfront site and could walk to the pier and watch two osprey nests with babies. Relaxing beside the water – it was great. In fact the entire park, manager and staff were great. We lived about an hour and a half from this park and had never been there. We will definitely make a return visit. It’s such a quiet peaceful place.
Our campsite at River Ridge
We saw several ospreys at the lake, on theirs nests…
… on a pole …
… and flying.
The huddle actually kicked off with a meet and greet and dinner Thursday night. There were about 95 people, including 18 new crew members. Welcome to all of you but especially the new crew members. Of course you aren’t new anymore. Friday morning was our “give back” where we assembled all the items we brought to assemble the dignity kits for Convoy of Hope. The kits will be distributed as part of the first response efforts when needed. Friday was also boat day when we spent several hours on the lake in pontoon boats. Other outings during the weekend included hiking to some waterfalls, ziplining, e-bike riding, hiking, visiting Cathedral Caverns, and UTV riding.
The give-back
Pre-zip training
Dressed for fun
Climbing up to the first zip
Anne on the zipline
The swinging bridges were the hardest part of the zip line tour.
Our fun boat ride
Sunday morning we had an amazing worship service with great music and Sheila shared another great message. I know several of us are still discussing the ark without a rudder. If you don’t know about that, send me an email and we can discuss it.
Sunday morning worship is always one of our favorite parts of a huddle.
We didn’t get to use the chapel at the retreat because of the weather, but it is the only one like it we have seen.
Monday morning after coffee and doughnuts, the huddle was over. We sadly said our “see you laters” and look forward to our next gathering.
RVing With a Purpose 