Our Grand Adventure: Fifth Stop

After Oklahoma we said goodbye to trees and humidity and headed off to Texas!  We stayed two days and three nights there at a private working cattle ranch called Pole Canyon Ranch.

 

The campsites weren't too exciting but we did have power, water, and the cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen.

 

There were corrals for the horses and they even got to meet a few cows during our stay.  The temperatures really started rising during this stop and we reached 95 one of the days.

 

The high temps and windy weather brought what we all feared while travelling across the plains: storms.  Here is a photo of the storm that rolled through the first night of our visit.  We found out later that, in addition to the hail we saw, this storm produced at least two tornadoes that hit about 15 miles east of us.  We sure were lucky!

 

The next two mornings Mom and I went for early rides around the ranch.  We covered about 20 miles total and didn't even make it on half of the trails. 

 

I apologize for the excess of riding photos, but the scenery here was just so beautiful that I couldn't narrow it down!

 

From the red rock cliffs...

To the river gorges...

 

To the rock formations...

 

To the stunning views...

 

To the exciting (and scary!) cows...

 

To the impressive canyons...we enjoyed every minute of it!

 

 

We also saw some incredible wildlife all around, starting with scissor-tailed flycatchers that were hanging out in camp.

 

After riding each day we all headed to nearby Caprock Canyons State Park.  The views and wildlife were even more stunning here!

 

Cliff swallows nesting in a colony above the bathrooms at the visitor center.

 

 

The start to our hike.

 

Selfie with the parents!

 

More awesome cliffs.

 

Probably the most beautiful bird in North America - the painted bunting.  A life bird for both Mom and I!

 

One of many lizards along the trail.  (I haven't looked it up yet...)

 

Another beautiful view.

 

And another life bird, the greater roadrunner.

 

Day two's hike went along the rim of the canyon.

 

Where we saw dung beetles working their magic down the middle of the trail.

 

And fields full of wildflowers.

 

We watched two different colonies of prairie dogs running around and barking at each other under the mesquite trees.

 

And we got pretty close to a herd of bison that were gathered around the trail.  All in all, a wonderful stop!