The RV Museum and the Big Cave

Friday May 30, 2025                                Most Recent Posts
Oasis RV Park                                            Beautiful Palo Duro Canyon
Amarillo Texas                                         Traveling to and Arriving in Amarillo

I began my day with a stop off at Jack Sizemore’s RV Museum which David and I also visited last time.  It’s an amazing private museum as you will see.

I started down the far right hand row and the first thing I came to was a 1974 Winnebago Itasca which was THE very first one built with serial number 0001. This one was the prototype for Itasca and was in the Winnebago Welcome Center for 20 years. It has 6000 original miles and is in perfect condition.

Up the steps and into the kitchen.

Looking forward.  How about the fabric!

Here’s what was going on that year.  I loved all the little touches on the counters and the tables and outside each rig.   You could spend forever.

But the special lighting was a bother.

I was thrilled to see Winnona’s mother, she was born in 1973 and 31 years old when I got Winnona.

I started wondering right then how Sizemore got these vintage rigs.   They are in immaculate condition outside and most in very good condition inside. 

More great early 70’s fabric.

1935!   I could not believe it.  When they say Airstreams last they aren’t kidding.

The museum was filled with everything you can imagine related to RVing

I’m in love with this vintage Ford.  If they said what year it was I unfortunately didn’t make a note.  But if you are a car person and know, David would definitely have known, please tell me in the comments.   I love that green color.  Wish I could get my Honda painted that color.  Guess I’m saying I wish I could afford to.  Why don’t they offer these great colors anymore.  Everything is white, gray or silver it seems to me.

Here it was set up to tow this 1946 Tear Drop Kit.  This trailer was restored 24 years ago by the Sizemore team.  The founder of Kit Manufacturing provided his last set of fenders for the restoration.  He  built  the kits out of aluminum surplus after the war.  Many of the wheels had to have bullet holes repaired to be used.  Amazing!

Can you guess what that is on the passenger’s window?

If you guessed air conditioning, you are right.

If you’ve seen the 2006 RV the Movie with Robin Williams you might recognize Happy Max.  It’s the bus that was used by the Gornike Family in the movie.  It’s a 1948 Flxible bus.  (and yes there is no e in the name)

I’ve never seen the movie.  If you have, what did you think of it?  Should I try to get it and watch it?

Clearly a diesel entry.

There were motorcycles throughout the isles along side the RVs and tow vehicles.
I love the tiny trailer.  What fun for a kid on some sort of scooter thing that could tow it.

This picture is in honor of David who loved his 1974 Harley Sportster.  Not a boat tail.

This is just a small sample of the motorcycles in this building.

I have to say I never much enjoyed riding with him on the Sportster.  But I would have loved to give this set up a try.  In Vermont one summer,  I met a woman who had one and her nephew was riding in the side car and loved it.  Wish I could recall the post and put in a link here.  I’m tooo lazy to try to find it.

I’ll end with just a couple of the things on the wall.  This place is the epitome of vintage.

After that fun morning I headed to Palo Duro for my second time.  $5 entry each day but so worth it.  This time I was headed to the Big Cave Hike  but on the way I stopped at the campgrounds and really wished I wasn’t such a wuss in being willing to drive Winnona towing the car down the steep curving entrance road to get here.   Just look at the “yard”.

I known Juan Espinoza is going to have a great time in this site.  Some campsites at Palo Duro Canyon State Park have water and electric, while others only have electric or none at all.

Covered picnic table if you are unfortunate enough to be here in the 90 degree plus weather.

From there I went on and parked at the trail head for Big Cave.  I stopped along the way just to look at the Capital Peak Mountain Bike Trail.  Not that I ever was a mountain biker but I frequently stay at Alafia River which is a big mountain bike spot.

Good grief, I wouldn’t even want to hike this let alone bike it.  I guess they just jump the bike over the rocks and forget trying to go through that little space between them.  What does the park do about liability?

At Big Cave there was no information about it, just the name so I headed down the trail.

From the parking lot itddid  look not so far away but the the further I went and the more the trail dropped down, it was clear this was not just a hike in the park.

I went all the way into the cave, the black section in this picture, but it was so dark you couldn’t see anything but out.

At the entrance the rocks were wonderful.

Going down was significantly more difficult than coming up as the lose rocks moved if your footing wasn’t careful.

The woman in front of me with no hiking poles had a difficult time. Obviously there really is nothing to hold on to.

Back in the car I made my way out of the park stopping only once to read the sign about the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon in which it was described as one of the most significant battles of the 1874-75 Indian “Campaign”.  They seemed to be pretty honest saying that columns of US Troops coming from 5 directions harassed the Indians on the panhandle plains for over 6 months.  The 4th Calvary tracked a band of Indians to their “secret canyon camp”.  When some of the warriors took up positions on the canyon walls from which they fired on the troops to give their families time to escape, the commander of the US forces Col. Ranald Mackenzie ordered the Indian camp and supplies burned taking 1400 horses, 1000 of which he later destroyed.

Learning all tis was a pretty bleak ending to my day though it doesn’t surprise me and I honor Palo Duro and Texas for being honest in their way of telling the story.  I’ll be leaving Texas tomorrow.  Further east to Oklahoma.

And I ALMOST forgot, today, the day I’m publishing this October 14th is Winnie the Pooh’s 99th birthday!!