The Grand Canyon of Texas

When Coronado's expedition was traveling across what is today the Texas Panhandle, they were exploring a flat prairie. I can only imagine their surprise to find a beautiful canyon cut into the arid, level landscape by a river. Today we call the river the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. We call the Canyon Palo Duro.


A view from the floor of Palo Duro Canyon

This natural wonder located to the south of Amarillo and just east of the town of Canyon is the second largest canyon in the United States, the largest being Arizona's Grand Canyon. Formed by erosion of 240-million years, Palo Duro Canyon was home to people since prehistoric times, as the attraction of the river's water and its sheltering walls made it appealing as a habitat. The walls of the canyon are over 800 feet high, and it is home to a wide variety of indigenous flora and fauna.


A view from the top

Today visitors to Palo Duro Canyon can enjoy a variety of activities, from exploring fossils of extinct life forms, to a presentation in an amphitheater, to riding a chuck wagon train into the canyon for a cowboy breakfast.

When people think of Amarillo, they often think of the Big Texan Steak House or the Cadillac Ranch. I prefer the natural beauty of Palo Duro Canyon. It is a place you must see if you enjoy geology, history, or just the artistry of the forces of nature.


Yet another view from the top of the canyon

Toonerville Trolley

Early 20th Century version of "light rail", the Bellaire Line.
Click on photo for larger version.

Bellaire Boulevard is a wide, tree-lined thoroughfare as it traverses the city of Bellaire, Texas. It has a wide, park-like esplanade, and is a very pleasant part of the greater Houston area. After it leaves the cities of Bellaire and West University Place to the east, it makes its way to the Texas Medical Center as Holcombe Boulevard after re-entering Houston.

In the early years of the last century, there was a trolley line that connected Bellaire to the Houston trolley line at South Main Street. The city of Bellaire has one of the old trolley cars preserved for posterity in the middle of the esplanade, along with an historical marker, seen below.

The text on the marker reads as follows:

Bellaire Streetcar Line

In 1909 the Westmoreland Railroad Company, directed by Bellaire developer William Wright Baldwin, began construction of a streetcar line between this site and Houston's Main Street (4 mile) to improve transportation between Bellaire and Houston. Laid out on the esplanade of Bellaire Boulevard, the streetcar line consisted of one railway track and an overhead electric wire. The line terminated at this site, where the company constructed a waiting pavilion and a turnaround loop. At the same time, the Houston Electric Company extended its south end line from Eagle Avenue down present Fannin Street to connect with the Bellaire line at Bellaire Boulevard (now part of Holcombe Boulevard). The trip between Bellaire and downtown Houston required one transfer at Eagle Avenue. Service began on December 28, 1910.

The streetcar line, often called the "Toonerville Trolley", became an integral link between Bellaire and Houston and played a vital role in the development of this area. The availability of motor transport and frequent derailments caused by worn-out track led to the abandonment of the line on September 26, 1927. Motor bus service began the following day.

For the sake of comparison, here is Houston's 21st century version, MetroRail.


MetroRail southbound in Hermann Park

Common Sunflowers

The common sunflower, the state flower of Kansas

Drive along the highways and you will almost certainly come across the common sunflower, or Helianthus Annuus, growing in fields along the roadside. These bright yellow blooms not only resemble the common image of the sun, but also turn their faces toward old Sol as he traverses the sky.

The common sunflower is a plant that almost every part can be used to create products, such as yellow dye from the petals, purple dye from the seeds, cooking oil, soap, and many others. The common sunflower is a much smaller bloom than its relative, the giant sunflower. Not only does the giant variety grow taller and have a huge flower, it also has only one flower per plant; whereas the common sunflower branches out and has many blooms per plant. The giant sunflower is actually a product of human intervention in directed evolution, being developed by people from the common sunflower.



In the photo above, you can see the fuzzy stem of the sunflower. While many times the sunflower is seen as a weed, it is a very beautiful flower in its own right.

Below is the sunflower as depicted on the Kansas State Highway shield.