Opening of "Texas"

One of my favorite places in the country is Palo Duro Canyon which is conveniently located about 20 minutes from where I live.  The photo above was taken from the overlook before driving down into the canyon this past Saturday for the season opening performance of Texas.  We went with a friend and his wife from Wellington, Texas, and one of his co-workers from Australia.  The performance, as usual, was outstanding.

We went early and enjoyed the steak dinner before the show (which, if you go, I highly recommend that you get tickets for the dinner as well as the show).  Our friend from Australia remarked that portions in the U.S. are unusually large.  In Australia, restaurants serve much smaller portions.

This year's program is filled with the art of Jack Sorenson of Amarillo.  You can view his web page here.  It just so happened that Jack was at the performance and signing autographs.  I was sitting next to him and his wife Jeanne.  They were very open and friendly and a joy to meet.

The play this year was very impressive and the talent outstanding.  It had been a couple of years since I saw the play and the changes to the script are excellent.  One scene gave me a little heartburn though.  The prairie fire.  I know it was well contained, but, with all the fires we've had this year and the extremely dry conditions of the area, I was more than a little nervous as the very realistic fire scene played.

People from all over the world view the play "Texas" each year in Palo Duro Canyon.  At each performance they give away a small gift to the person who traveled the farthest distance to be there.  In fact, Dave Yurik, the Director, announced that in the history of the performance, the prize has never been given to someone from within the United States.  We felt certain that our friend, who is from Brisbane, Australia, would win the prize.  He didn't.  It went instead to a couple from South Africa.

Y'all go see it!

Chris