April 25, 2006 - Weatherford, OK - Palo Duro Canyon, TX.

This morning we woke up to very cold and windy conditions. The local bank showed the temperature of 40 degrees. Can you believe a 50 degree drop in temperature from yesterday? Across from where we stayed the night is a restaurant named The Mark Restaurant, I went in to get us some coffee, while discussing the weather with the cashier who asked where I was from, proceeded to letting me know he was from Santa Cruz, CA. He is originally from Weatherford, OK, and was based at Fort Ord in the 50’s. They resided in Santa Cruz and over the years they acquired 4 homes and 3 businesses there. One of the businesses which some of you may be familiar with was The Snow White drive-in on Mission Street, which is now a Chinese restaurant. Since moving back to Weatherford, OK, he is now part owner of The Mark Restaurant. Of course we had to have breakfast there. We were very surprised in finding out how cheap this place was. Full breakfast for $3.49, included: 2 eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns or grits, toast or biscuits & gravy. The food was awesome. While at the restaurant we overheard someone talking about a tornado that touched down just west of Oklahoma City in a town called El Reno. We are so glad we drove through to Weatherford, because El Reno is only 50 miles east of us.

We drove to Clinton, OK to the Route 66 Museum. The museum displays a lot of history of route 66. It was very surprising to Johnny, when he found out the 85% of the highway is still being used. For those that didn’t know (like me), the highway goes from Chicago, IL to Santa Monica, CA pier.

Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK

Father of Route 66

Sweet 55 Belair Sport Coupe


1940 Ford Model 66 Custom Convertible

On our way to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX., we pulled off into some areas of Rte 66 for photo ops.






Our overnight stay was at Palo Duro RV Park. After setting up Taylor in his spot we drove to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which is the Grand Canyon of Texas. The canyon exposes 250 million years of geological formations. There are campgrounds and cabins you can rent within the park. We drove the 16 mile loop from the rim to the bottom of the canyon. They also have several miles of hiking and biking trails within the canyon.


Palo Duro Canyon

Sorenson Point

View from canyon floor
The park has an amphitheatre, which is home to a musical drama “Texas”, and performed every year beginning in June.


Backdrop for the musical drama


Amphitheatre

I have wanted a picture on a Texas Longhorn, and wouldn’t you know it, there were two of them in the park. My digital camera battery died, BUT, I had a back up disposable camera and was able to get my pictures. Sorry, no picture for the blog.