Camping trip gone south

Brian took Friday off and we were going to leave on his birthday after work to go camping. The kids were so excited to be missing a day of school and we were all just happy to have Brian captive for a couple of days and get out of town. Well, Wednesday we started hearing rumors of rain. By Thursday morning, it was no longer rumors and they were talking about thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. I don't know about you, but camping in that kind of weather is beyond extreme, I just call it stupid, just my opinion. So we decided we better not leave Thursday night and I was really pushing to still go down Friday and camp for one night. Brian thought that was a bad idea, all the setting up for just one day and the fact there would be lots of red clay mud all over. I finally relented and agreed with him. But we decided we would still go down to the canyon and check things out and possibly go hike a bit. So we packed a lunch and left. We got down to Palo Duro Canyon about noon and found out that our campsite was inaccessible due to flash flooding from the night before. There was a flood gauge on the bridge and the water had gotten to 2 feet above the road! From what we heard from others there in the canyon, it had gotten pretty crazy during the storm. One guy told us there were some people who had been in tents who had water and mud all over the inside of their tent and all over their stuff. Good thing we didn't go! Luckily, we were able to find a good trail that wasn't too muddy and we hiked for about 2 hours. With five kids, that amounts to about 2 miles total. But the fact that Kash walked the whole time by himself and Ben only complained a couple of times, we are calling it a very successful hike. Jake of course, being the expert hiker he is, was explaining to all of us the best way to climb rocks and traverse the many cacti when we got off the trail a bit to climb rocks. Ruby loved the backpack and was very happy the whole time. Little stinker wouldn't leave her hat on though and she got a little sun kissed, but is looking fine today. We all had a great time!And the best part of all...I found something beautiful. Amarillo is still the ugliest place I have ever seen, (sounds so mean, but seriously...you should see it before you call me mean) but Palo Duro is gorgeous and it is only 30 minutes away.

I caught Jake with the camera while he was jumping from one rock to another--he LOVES to climb rocks--and he really does believe he is an expert. I love his confidence--even if it does get him a broken leg at some point.

Really, a very pretty place.

All the kids minus Ruby up on a rock.