Friday, October 19, 2007
Buffalo Lake NWR, Umbarger, TX - Oct 11-12
There is no lake at Buffalo Lake NWR -- Umbarger Dam was built in 1937 and a lake quickly formed, but decreased rains and a water table lowered by irrigation and urban pumping dried up the lake in the 1970s. The shortgrass prairie remains, and the campground is one of the nicest we have stayed at, if you can maneuver around the trees planted excessively throughout.
The main reason for swinging so far east on our way down to Carlsbad was to visit Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Doug had never been to Palo Duro & Willie only once, many years ago. Palo Duro is a 120-mile long steep-sided canyon billed as the second largest canyon in the US. 
Only about 8 miles are accessible in the state park, but the canyon there is stunning either from the rim or the bottom. There are 3 RV cgs within the canyon, but we had heard the road in was steep, so instead we parked at Buffalo Lake NWR and took a day trip to Palo Duro. 
We enjoyed our time, but were glad we hadn't camped there. Of course, the comparison of free at Buffalo Lake to $26/night (includes $6 daily entrance fees) at Palo Duro had something to do with this decision! Even though this was the off-season, the park had an overpopulated feel to it. 
They had also had had a recent heavy rain of 2 1/2 inches, which caused a lot of flash flooding and high water at the six road crossings of the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River (isn't that a great name?). The sixth crossing was so high that the road was closed at this point, and you had to backtrack to get to the other side. 
As a result of so much moisture in the ground and the fairly hot day, the humidity was much higher than normal in this usually dry area.Driving back from Palo Duro we got a phone call from Erin and learned of the death of her mother-in-law, Betty Perez. Betty had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor less than a year ago, with a correspondingly gloomy prognosis.
How cruel it was that within a month of the diagnosis, this adorable woman in her early 50s went from someone full of life & love to someone needing help going to the bathroom. Every day a little more of her was stolen away until she finally passed away. We are reminded to enjoy all the time we have together, because you never know what tomorrow will bring.# posted by Doug and Willie @ 1:26 PM 
