From our Amarillo visit...

We are continuing to have fun here in Amarillo and in this part of the wonderful Texas High Plains. I am constantly amazed at the new discoveries we make each day and I have added a lot of information about the rich Texas history to my reserves for future writing. I admit I am becoming addicted to the wonderful stories of western heroes, including the strong and wild frontier women, who settled here along with their men. We've seen the big buffalo, wild deer, which we petted and fed, wild turkeys, visiting a prairie dog town, guessed about which big birds were flying over us and played in the wild Canadian River as well as crossed over the Red River several times on our excursions.

I have read seven or eight books filled with Texas history and made a good study of Charles Goodnight's life story. We have also watched the entire Lonesome Dove series with the boys and several other westerns to boot. The boys are getting into the hisotry and hopefully it will whet their interest for future study.

Goodnight was very instrumental in the settling of this area including the Palo Duro Canyon where we took grandsons Steven and Brendan for three days of exploring. We stayed in the cabin on the rim of the canyon that bears Goodnight's name and learned even more about him in the High Plains Panhandle Museum, which is one of the finest in the world. There is a small Texas town named Goodnight in his honor also, which we plan to visit on our way home.

Ted's son, Darrell, took the boys climbing (I held my breath believe me) and they both slide down the wild, 360-feet high Devil's Slide several times. They also went caving (exploring the dark big holes in the sides of the canyon walls) and we saw the exciting musical "Texas" performed in the huge outdoor amphitheater. The play has been done for some 43 years and gives a good depiction of the rough and tumble Texans who settled this country. (They really do believe it is a country and not just a state, too, and if outsiders question natives, it might just turn out to be an old fashioned brawl.)

We enrolled both grandsons in the wonderful reading program provided by the Amarillo Public Libraries. For each hour of reading, they got to mark a spot on a colorful sheet to turn in each week as we checked out books and movies to enjoy — all for free, too. When we entered the library last Friday to turn in some material, Pat, the excellent teacher over the children's programs, called out to Steven, "Hey, guys, I'm glad you're here. The numbers you left were all long distance and the city frowns on us calling too many long distance numbers." Pat had helped both boys choose and check out books of interest to them.

Steven had read 25 hours and was signed up for the huge drawing for the Extreme Read Program. Pat went on to share with us that it was Steven's name that had been drawn from the basket naming him the winner. He was given a lovely package of $20 in free movie passes, a new Batman movie and a new novel to read, along with some other goodies. He is also now entered into the drawing for the end-of-year big gift certificate to Best Buy in the amount of $100. In his mind, he has spent that $100 ten different ways!

Parents - If you have not enrolled your child in your local library programs, do so right away. There is so much good and fun information there for the sharing. Amarillo's libraries are among the finest in the nation and we've truly enjoyed going several times each week. With the high costs of books and movies, it is a Godsend to parents and grandparents, as well as teachers. The friendliness of the staff goes a long way toward making for a pleasant experience.

Brendan has learned a lot about building from his Papa Ted. Together, they have constructed a new front porch on our home here in Amarillo. Brendan has learned the seriousness of welding and helped to make some joinings of heaving metal as well as learned how to operate the drill and other tools. He particularly loves to hammer (loudly) and to dig holes in this crazy dirt.

On Saturday night, we visited an old fashioned drive in movie theater and saw the fabulous Hancock and The Incredilbe Hulk, both of which were very good I thought. We also sampled the hot dogs and other treats at the concession stand.

Have lots of good photos to post when time permits, but suffice it to say, this has been a wonderful Texas size adventure for all of us. When night comes and I finally get to my bed, I am exhausted, but very happy.

Until the next page turns,
Brenda