The Grand Canyon of Texas

For several weekends, Theo and I have spent our Saturdays doing some Christmas shopping without the kids. It has been nice having time to shop around rather than having to get it all done on a weekend trip out of town. The downside was how much time it had eaten up as the weeks passed. This Saturday, we got going as quickly as we could to finish tying up our shopping loose ends. By early afternoon, we felt like we were just about done getting what we needed. We were ready to head home to check on the boys, and then there was a debate about how we would spend the rest of our afternoon.

Theo had been studying even more than usual with his final exams approaching. This week he took seven tests in five days. He was a little burned out. One of the tasks that he had been putting off was putting up our Christmas lights. This was a front-running contender for our activity. The weather was great. The tests were done. Our afternoon was free. What to do?

We left the lights in their box and headed to Palo Duro canyon for an afternoon hike. Time well spent.