Amarillo and Winery Adventure

From Albuquerque we headed east again on I-40/ Route 66.  Much of Route 66 isn't drivable and the parts that are are considered "business routes".  We drove to Amarillo to the Bar Z Winery.  This  time I was smart enough to call ahead and be sure we could fit.  In this case I failed to ask directions.  I thought the info on the hosts site were sufficient. NOT.  We drove to the exit listed in the host's directions.  Once at the exit, there were no signs for the Bar Z Winery.  We drove until we found an area where there were people and began asking where the Bar-Z winery was.  No one had heard of it.  After about 30 minutes of asking I found someone who had an idea of where we were headed and gave me directions.  We arrived there around 4:00 in the afternoon. Met our host, Monty and got setup.  Monty was hosting a wedding and a lingerie party and was way to busy to spend much time with us. He was very gracious and we tasted a couple of wines.  He told us to take the bottle with us and we'd settle up later.  Monty recommended a great restaurant in Amarillo to which we went.  The Bracero Mexican Bar on 6th Street.  It was one of the best mexican meals we've had in quite sometime. It was right on Route 66.  Service was great and there was live music.  We had a most enjoyable evening.

The next day, we drove over to Palo Duro Canyon State Park.  T and I went there back in 1988 when we were driving back from Florida after he retired.   We'd forgotten the name until we were in the area again. Palo Duro Canyon is the "Grand Canyon of Texas" and is considered the 2nd largest canyon in the United States.  It is 120 miles long and 800 feet deep.  It was beautiful.

Palo Duro Canyon
The Grand Canyon of Texas

We then drove to two "famous/infamous" locations. One the Cadillac Ranch, standing along Route 66 west of Amarillo.  It was invented and created by a group of art-hippies from San Francisco.  Their silent partner was Amarillo billionaire Stanley March III,  He wanted a piece of art work that would baffle the locals.  Ten caddies were half buried in the dirt.  They faced west in a line from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Sedan de Ville.  The other place was called Combine City.  Retired combine tractors were sunk at an angle in a remote field.  It's a spoof on Cadillac Ranch.  T definitely thought this was a neat display.

Cadillac Ranch- Amarillo TX

Combine City- Amarillo TX

Monty Dixon, owner of Bar Z Winery & T toasting "the  good life"

In the late afternoon we enjoyed time with Monty, tasting wines and hearing the story of how he got into the wine business.  He started making wines when he was twelve. His science teacher taught them how to make beer and it evolved into wine making.  In adulthood he's been both a cattle rancher and a wine maker.  He recently sold his cattle and now his primary avocation/vocation is wine making.  While chatting, he told us of a friend of his who owns a winery down near Wichita Falls and is also part of the Harvest Hosts group.    We decided on the spur of the moment to change directions and head to Wichita Falls.  We bid our farewells, bought a few bottles of wine and retired to our camper for the evening.