Amarillo, Texas--Home of the Big Texan and on to New Mexico

Our next stop was Amarillo, Texas. It is home to The Big Texan Steak Ranch. No, Bob did not nor has he ever attempted to eat the 72 ounce steak! We did, however, sit at the bar and have one of the beers brewed by The Big Texan Brewery.

This trip we stayed at AOK Campground just east of Amarillo. It is a Passport America campground so it was 1/2 price for us. We had full hook-ups with 50 amp electric and free wifi. It was a Netflix night for us!

We only stayed one night and we forgot to get a picture of our site. It was a typical private campground with closely spaced gravel sites. It was a good place to stop for the night traveling through Amarillo and if we travel this route again, we would not hesitate to stay at AOK.

The next day we got an early start and headed northwest toward Clayton, New Mexico state park campground for the next year for free if we are boondocking or if we want electric hook-ups, the cost would be $4 a night. The regular prices are $10 and $14, respectively.

When we arrived at Clayton Lake SP,  it started to rain. We unhooked the car and went in search of a site. We chose one of the two remaining electric sites (the campground only has 7 electric sites). We were lucky enough to get set up before the rain got too bad. Not long after we got set up, another camper came in and took the last site. There were a lot of boondocking sites, but the weather was still a bit warm to be without the AC. The other reason we took the electric site was the road to the boondocking sites was pretty bumpy and not well maintained although the sites were nice.

Since we were set up and it was still daylight AND the rain had stopped, we hiked the nature trail that goes partially around the lake. It was nice to be hiking among the rock formations.

The next morning, we followed the sign that said "Dinosaur Tracks." The trail took us across the dam to a boardwalk overlooking dinosaur tracks. When the dam was under construction, workers found the tracks embedded in the rock. This is one of the best tracks in the area. It is the imprint of a plant eating dinosaur.

 Here is a view of the boardwalk around the area where the tracks were found. All the indentations are dinosaur tracks. They represent all sizes of dinosaurs, meat eaters and plant eaters.

I have to say, we were bundled up to walk to the dinosaur tracks. The rain the night before brought a cold front through and it was windy and chilly!

After our short hike, we packed up and headed to our next park, Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton, New Mexico. It wasn't far, but we wanted to arrive early to make sure we could find a site.