Texas Road Trip: Spring Break day 4

It is a beautiful but cold day in Texas!  It is no secret that I am a huge National Park Service fan.  If we are near any of the sites then we will make a point to check them out.  Today we are visiting the first national monument in Texas, Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument.  I really don't know what to expect but did call an inquire about the ranger led tour which is the only way to visit the actual flint quarries.  Since it is a weekday, we are the only two that show up for the tour which is nice.  We arrived a little early to watch the movie, check out the displays, and let Colin get a Junior Ranger book . . . yes, he was thrilled!  We follow Ranger Tim Cruze to the quarries which required a short drive on a gravel road which had me nervous after the tire incident a few days ago.  He gives an excellent overview of the area and the views are amazing too.

There was flint everywhere . . .

  

. . . and this was the coolest one we saw as we hiked out with the sparkly quartz . . .

We went back to the visitor center and worked on the Junior Ranger book.

Colin really doesn't enjoy getting the Junior Ranger books now that he is older but once he starts working on them he has fun.  Plus we always learn something from them too . . . okay so really I am the one who likes doing the books.  We had a lot of laughs and worked together getting it completed.  While we waited we saw a roadrunner . . .

. . . we mentioned it and apparently she hangs out at the visitor center and they have named her Martha.  I am not sure she liked us hanging out on her porch.  We finished the book and are on our way to our next stop.  I had told Colin there would be one fun and one boring activity today.  So he was happy to have the boring activity behind him which he admitted wasn't that boring.  I had come prepared with three cans of spray paint and turned him loose at Cadillac Ranch.

By this point we are both very hungry so what else do you eat while in Amarillo?  Here is a hint . . .

Beef of course so to The Big Texan Steak Ranch.  There was no way we could conquer the 72 ounce challenge so he went smaller . . .

. . . I ate the sides and the two bites of meat he shared with me! 

Yes, he ate the rest and was still hungry enough for some gelato!  We were stuffed and thankfully our hotel was across the street so back to the hotel we went and there was an indoor whirlpool too!