After departing Cadillac Ranch we headed south with our sights set on Palo Duro Canyon. Having been admonished not to miss this "mini-Grand Canyon" by Katharine's dad we really had no choice. To get there we traveled on I-40 and I-27 for a short stint but before long we were back on open farm roads rolling through miles of flat featureless fields with only power lines and windmills to break up the monotony.

That is, until, all of a sudden a giant hole appeared in the ground off to the right. This hole grew wider and deeper and suddenly there's a canyon! It was the second most surprising geographic transition of the trip. True to his word, Palo Duro really is something like a mini-Grand Canyon. With lots of camping sites and plenty of other activities this park is going on the list of places to come back and enjoy more some day. We didn't spend very much time here being already WELL behind schedule, but Katharine did manage to pick up a stack of postcards and snow globes (in Texas they're sand globes) as is her tradition.