After Chimney Rock I drove to Durango, a town in the mountains on the way to my next state; Utah
To be honest, I liked Santa Fe much better. Durango as a town is like many other American small towns.
But the campground is close to town yet fairly quiet.
There’s a small railroad track right next to my tent; tomorrow a steam train should pass
the train just came by;
I took a video:
Today I crossed another state line; Colorado. I made a stop at Chimney Rock where I also purchased an America the Beautiful pass, which thanks to a certain orange man now sets non citizens $250 back. As I pass for an American easily, the park ranger double checked that I’m not a US resident, and did not mean out of State. I asked the park staff that sold me if the price had gone up, to which she replied; “yes, since this year, but we’re not allowed an opinion on that”. I replied I had one, to which she chuckled and said “I’m sure you do”.
So now for the next 12 3/4 months I have access to all national parks (not state parks, those are separate) For US residents it’s only $100. But at least it’s valid for a while, so I’ll make sure to use it again.
Anyways, after getting the pass I could drive up to where the trail starts that leads to a 1000 year old building on top of the mountain, used for ceremonial purposes and to send smoke signals as far as Mesa Verde, 100 miles away
There you find remains of buildings.
From there the views around are very wide, which is always hard to capture in a photo. But as proof I went up, here’s a picture.
The chimneys look like this;
Before heading out to Heron Lake I visited Santa Fe. It’s a surprisingly pleasant town. Not a single high rise building and lots of Adobe style.
The downtown area is touristy but nice.
There’s an old cathedral, one of the oldest buildings in the US, built in the 1600’s
For lunch, I visited a traditional New Mexican restaurant.
They use locally sourced produce and especially well known for their blue corn.
Definitely the best enchiladas I ever had.
After my visit to Santa Fe I drove north to Heron Lake, which was a very scenic drive, but no safe places to pull over so no pics from that. At the lake, I found a spot at the Blanco sites.
Heron Lake suffers from the same problem as Canyon Lake did until recently;not enough rain.
This is the view of the lake, from a trail that normally is close to the water line.
This hike would normally take you into the water. Now it’s not even close. Below a picture from the furthest I walked, still a long way from the water line.
But Canyon lake proves that all it takes is a month of good rain and the lake could be restored to its full glory.
After my Palo Duro Canyon hike, I drove to my first non Texas destination in the US in years; Santa Fe. That’s in New Mexico.
One of the main differences between Amarillo and Santa Fe is the altitude; Santa Fe is up around 2100 meter, which means it’s less hot and cools down at night. ( I will confirm if that’s really true tomorrow)
Another well organized campground and on this one I have neighbors in a tent. But campsites in the US are large, so it’s never crowded.
They say everything is bigger in Texas. That’s true for most things, but not for Canyons. That said, Pali Duro, the second largest canyon in the US is still impressive. Like the Grand Canyon you drive up not seeing much but plains. But suddenly you look down into a vast canyon.
I opted for the most scenic hike; light house trail.
Above on the left is the small lighthouse. The 3 mile hike takes you up to the big one. The trail is easy except maybe the last bit where you have to climb up some rocks.
You see some people to the left of the tower; that’s as far as you can go up, unless you’re a mountaineer.
This is from the other side, after climbing up.
Below, I pose next to the tower.
First leg of my Roadtrip took me to Amarillo Texas. That’s the place where they serve a steak so big, that if you can finish it it’s free. I’m not trying that; pretty sure that I won’t manage.
The drive was easy, the first hour and a half a bit less relaxing as it is 2 lane through the Texas Hill Country and most Texans have a tendency to speed, where I feel 65 mph is more than enough on these non highways.
Once you pass Abilene, the terrain goes more flat, though nothing like how flat Holland is. 
My mustang is a joy to drive, especially now that the AC works again. In theory I could have driven with the top down, but it’s 93F (33 C) and that’s a bit much, especially for an 8 hour drive.
I setup camp just to the east of Amarillo, and much as I expected, I’m the only tent camper. All others have big RV’s.
In the back you can see their “Log cabin”, a far cry from Ozuye lodge so I’m glad I’m camping and it will cool down a bit and there’s a nice breeze that keeps it comfy in the shade.
The Weber grill has been here for months, but this will be the first time I’m using it. Bought a nice T-Bone steak to test it. 
happiness can be so simple:
Although not really Ozuye related, I figured it made sense to post my trip on my Ozuye blog anyways as this is where I start. Today I received some camping essentials, like a camping mattress 
It’s very compact rolled up;
I used a bunk bed on previous camping trips, but with my F150 being replaced that’s no longer an option
And to eat from, I got this compact kit;
The plates, bowls, cups and cutlery all fit into the bag on the left.
The cooking essentials should arrive tomorrow.