Austin - Taos

Okay, I have a little catching up to do.

I told you all about Austin. From there my travels take us to Inks Lake state park, which is not too far away (NW). I was driving in sort of late, planning to stay in Longhorn State camprgound, which is a few miles away. Much to my dismay it was closed and I feared that I would have nowhere to camp (I thought they would all have the same close time). Luckily there was an amazing sunset going on to help lift my spirits. I even pulled over and took a picture, which you can see in the updated trip 1 pictures.
My first impression of Inks Lake campground was great; it was open! From there, it was a rollercoaster of emotions (well, a subdued rollercoaster). On my way to get a site I had to stop to go to the bathroom. The stalls were a little on the small side. "How small were they?" you ask. Let's test your test taking skills.

The bathroom stalls were SO small I...
A) considered not shutting the door at all.
B) accidentally dipped the edge of my skirt in the can.
C) couldn't even sit down and had to pee standing up.
D) all of the above

Shortly after that little episode, I saw my first real live armadillo running across the road (Apparently this is the habitat of the armadillo. I had seen countless roadkill brothers before this one.) So that was thrilling, but it was dark and I just wanted to get to camp. I set up and things went really smoothly, but I would be lying if I said that another armadilllo didn't sneak up on me and try to sabotage my camp. Pesky little buggers (maybe I just got freaked out...).

Okay, my notes aren't complete for this next part so I'm not exactly sure that this all happened on the road the next morning, but I think that's the right placement. I passed through Hico, TX where they had huge banners hanging all over town announcing the "Hico Beef Symposium." Unfortunately, I missed it, so I don't really know what a beef symposium is. I also saw a monumentally large wooden rocking chair (5-6 storeys maybe), a road named Butts road (I double checked to make sure it wasn't Butte, and a motel called the "It'll do Motel." Yeah, I'm pretty sure that stuff was between Inks Lake and my next stop, Palo Duro Canyon state park.

Palo Duro was my first two night stay - oh glorious relaxation! I do have a little trouble gearing down, but it's great once I do. This is one beautiful state park. The canyon is amazing. It's huge (Jack told me 2nd largest after The Grand) and gets quite a bit of rain so it's very green (see pics). There is mountain biking and hiking and other stuff, too, in which I didn't take part. Tuesday was the day I spent there, so I'll just lay it out for you.
I decided to live like a desert creature and be active in the twilight and dawn and rest in the heat of the day. I woke up, had a quick breakfast and set out on my mountain bike. Well, I've gotta say that my ambition was a little beyond my skill level and the first trail I picked left me covered with red dirt, scratches and bruises. That was just one fall. So I tried another trail. That went a little better, but I didn't ride as much as I could have because I was being too conservative. The fall had freaked me out. Then I came back to home sweet campsite and took it easy under my little awning for many hours. I practiced my guitar, read (Abbey), wrote and watched my surroundings. There was a ladder-backed woodpecker taking it to a tree right next to my sight and I watched it pop in and out of its hole and eat whatever bugs it had found - pretty sweet. There was a lot of wildlife there: birds (loads of turkeys), lizards (saw my first horny toad), snakes (though I didn't see one), bats and dung beetles (so cool). I also learned a new flower (see pics) and found a new (to me) variety of penstamen. Once the sun started going down and the temperature went with it, I set out to do the lighthouse hike. I think it's the premier hike of the park. Lighthouse Rock is a prominent structure in the canyon and you can see it on my pics page The hike was pretty good, but there's not much to say since I just bagged it. That evening, I came back, showered and met my neighbors. One of them, Stephen (Steven?) had a telescope and I got to see the moon's craters, which was rockin' (haha). We talked for a while then I went to bed.

Today: I'M IN THE MOUNTAINS!

I'm sitting in the town square of Taos, NM right now. I guess posh resort towns provide wireless internet in the public square. Awesome! The trip here was pretty good. I am glad to be driving shorter days now. Some roadside highlights were a pink house with a red roof (maybe an example I can follow one day...), metal cacti (in the grasslands...?) and a lovely sign which you can see in the pictures. The major disappointment of the drive is that there was no "Welcome to New Mexico: the blah blah blah state" sign, just a sign to inform me that I had crossed into the mountain time zone. That's good to know, I guess, but I would have preferred the NM sign (the line is the same).
As I was driving across the grasslands I knew that the mountains were just ahead of me, but there was limited sight distance because of some cloudiness. That gave the illusion of these huge mountains looming in the distance and it was rather exciting. I was actually on the edge of my seat in anticipation. When I finally did see the snow-capped peaks, my heart started jumping around and throwing confetti. That sure was a strange feeling. Also in the grasslands, in the pre-Cimarron area, there are fences all along the road because of the ranching. Actually, there are fences like that in TX, too, but the roads are wider and who knows what else. Anyway, so I'm driving along and I see these deer (antelople? I meant to look them up before I wrote) and I had this weird sensation that the fence was around the road. I was the one fenced in, close on each side a was strung a rack of barbed wires but on the other side was just a big, open space. I guess if there are any fences at all we are all fenced in. It just depends on how you look at it.

I also visited the famed Philmont Scout Ranch. I drove though a much bigger portion than I had on my last time in the area and I stopped at the visitors' center. That place is radical! The guy at the museum/store/visitors center asked me if I was staff, and for that moment I really wished that I was. So many cool people to meet there I bet. And instant huge-ization of your trail family. What's more important than that?