Fun with Betsy and Stephen in Amarillo

We went to see the Amarillo Sox baseball team (minor league level unknown but it isn't very high!) with Richard and Ingrid, members of Beautiful Savior and also great friends of Stephen and Betsy.

We had great seats, just high enough to see all the action and keep an eye on the mascots and interesting fans. We were also just behind the backstop screen which meant we didn't have to pay too close attention to foul balls.

It was a beautiful night, starting off with temperatures in the low 80s but then dropping to the low 60s during the game. The wind was howling and I thought a rain storm was coming, but it never arrived.

Nothing like a purely commercial mascot to have your picture taken with. Can you believe it, this is a shampoo bottle, advertising the Great Clips hair cutting place. It didn't seem to matter, some kids still considered it a great photo op.

Here's the genuine mascot for the Amarillo Sox. Word has it that in past years the Sox were called the Armadillos, and were perhaps a completely different farm team. But the owner ran into some financial issues and that was that.

We stopped by the church and checked out the preparations for the Vacation Bible School, starting that Sunday. This congregation has a great deal of enthusiasm for VBS and invests a tremendous amount of creativity, energy and time into making it a success.

On Friday morning we got up "bright" and early and headed to Palo Duro Canyon State Park for a hike. It was misting and very foggy, with a chill in the air. These leaves are actually covered with moisture, a rarity for the usually very dry Amarillo area.

At the top of the trail there is a thermometer, I'm sure meant to warn visitors of the heat, since it goes up to 120 degrees. When we start it was 60 degrees, and as we finished two hours later the temperature was up to 70.

Palo Duro is the place to go to see interesting rocks and rock formations, and to say "hmmm, I wonder how that came about?"

Most of the time we were walking within sight of tremendous cliffs. A few times we came right up to the edge. There were no walls or fences, or even nice warning signs. I guess in Texas they don't believe it that.

We saw a million and one cacti. This was the only one blooming. I heard that we missed the blooming season by a few weeks.

Stephen and Betsy are standing at the edge of a huge outcropping. Far below is the Texas musical amphitheater. Evidently in the musical a horse with rider appears in the very spot where they are standing.