So my daughter read blog and laughed at me for making shorter posts, but writing 3 of them. Oh well, I had a lot to say - like I said, trying to catch up from 3 weeks of travel!! And ya don't have to read all of them at once! :)
Today we are traveling again, only it's a very short trip - only one space over! We decided to sign up for a dolphin tour and stay one more night, but sadly, someone has reserved our spot!!! So we have to move - sigh. Oh well, more practice hooking and unhooking!! Tomorrow we head to Corpus Christi for a few days - weather forecast says 3 days of stormy weather - time to do chores and laundry anyway.
Talk about stormy - these tropical areas are interesting - in last 2 hours there has been lightening, a sudden cold offshore breeze, a little rain and now it's hot and steamy again. When we took the dogs out we had clear skies over our heads but lightening filled clouds on the ocean's horizon - spectacular light show - if only I had the right camera!! Guess I need to charge up and relearn how to use the Flip!!
Gotta go secure the cabin for transport to space 22!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Forgot one thing and then enough about dog hair - when we bought the vacuum we were in a Target in Albuquerque NM. The woman who checked us out commented on how good the Shark was and that she owned one. I asked her if she had pets and she said oh yeah, in fact she was a dog trainer. As we discussed the pet hair issue she gave us advice. Add cod liver oil to their food and it will lessen their shedding - well, we bought it right away and are trying it - I'll let you know.
More random musings....
So far we have been the RVers we said we wouldn't be - we have not sat outside. But, that's because it has either been freezing (Taos) or windy (Albuquerque/South Padre). Some day!!!!
At Albuquerque we wondered why no one had their outside rugs in place - it was super gravelly and easy to track small pebbles into the rig so I put mine out. Well, in a very short time I saw why they didn't put them out - mine blew halfway across the road and I had to run and rescue it!! I was so silly in Taos - I didn't want to put my new rug out on the dirt - then I told myself that's what it's for!! However, here in Padre I haven't put it out because of those blasted sand burrs!!
More random musings....
So far we have been the RVers we said we wouldn't be - we have not sat outside. But, that's because it has either been freezing (Taos) or windy (Albuquerque/South Padre). Some day!!!!
At Albuquerque we wondered why no one had their outside rugs in place - it was super gravelly and easy to track small pebbles into the rig so I put mine out. Well, in a very short time I saw why they didn't put them out - mine blew halfway across the road and I had to run and rescue it!! I was so silly in Taos - I didn't want to put my new rug out on the dirt - then I told myself that's what it's for!! However, here in Padre I haven't put it out because of those blasted sand burrs!!
DOGS...
Traveling with dogs is interesting - I've already talked about them, but there's more. They consume a lot of time and their personalities really come out. Callie must be the lead dog when on leash which is interesting because she's usually such a submissive dog and she jumps off the steps without touching them. It's like she's afraid of them. Maizy is afraid of going up the steps - she takes each one carefully and cautiously. Maizy has loved the beach - she runs and barks at the shore birds but runs like crazy back to the safety of dry sand when she sees the water coming toward her. Chloe is really showing her age - can't jump in the truck and now can't go up the stairs of the 5th wheel - she fell off the stairs twice so Paul now lifts her into the rig. Just hope his back holds up!!
When we bought this rig we said we would need a very powerful vacuum and we think we have found one - it's called a Shark. Only trouble is when Mr.Research bought it, he didn't realize it did not come with a wand/attachment for floors - only came with uppholstery attachments, and dusting/corner attachments. I still use it for floors, just sweep it into a pile then vacuum but no, to those in the know, we still have not removed the plastic off the carpet :)!! Not until we get that wand!
It's amazing how much dog hair I can actually live with - one day we turned on the whole house fan and there were little tornados of hair flying in the air. As I cleaned I made sure to vacuum the screens on the windows - yep, dog hair there too. Oh well - we love our dogs.
We've tried to find dog parks but they're not very frequent. One of them charged money and you had to have a personality test done on your dog. For reals!! We already know Chloe would not pass any test!!
Traveling with dogs is interesting - I've already talked about them, but there's more. They consume a lot of time and their personalities really come out. Callie must be the lead dog when on leash which is interesting because she's usually such a submissive dog and she jumps off the steps without touching them. It's like she's afraid of them. Maizy is afraid of going up the steps - she takes each one carefully and cautiously. Maizy has loved the beach - she runs and barks at the shore birds but runs like crazy back to the safety of dry sand when she sees the water coming toward her. Chloe is really showing her age - can't jump in the truck and now can't go up the stairs of the 5th wheel - she fell off the stairs twice so Paul now lifts her into the rig. Just hope his back holds up!!
When we bought this rig we said we would need a very powerful vacuum and we think we have found one - it's called a Shark. Only trouble is when Mr.Research bought it, he didn't realize it did not come with a wand/attachment for floors - only came with uppholstery attachments, and dusting/corner attachments. I still use it for floors, just sweep it into a pile then vacuum but no, to those in the know, we still have not removed the plastic off the carpet :)!! Not until we get that wand!
It's amazing how much dog hair I can actually live with - one day we turned on the whole house fan and there were little tornados of hair flying in the air. As I cleaned I made sure to vacuum the screens on the windows - yep, dog hair there too. Oh well - we love our dogs.
We've tried to find dog parks but they're not very frequent. One of them charged money and you had to have a personality test done on your dog. For reals!! We already know Chloe would not pass any test!!
October 31, 2012
Happy Halloween - pretty low key here at the beach. Went out and about a bit but needed a down day - napping, reading, blogging, beach pretty soon. There's a pet costume contest at a local drinkin hole, maybe we'll go, maybe we won't.
Have explored Turtle Inc., a turtle rescue/rehab facility run by local volunteers/interns - started by a woman called "The Turtle Lady" - have read about her. Pretty low key establishment - amazing what they do. So many of the turtles are there because they were found stranded on the beach and found to have eaten plastic bags.
There is a lot of plastic trash along Padre's beach. I read it's because of the currents in theGulf and the wind. They said a lot of it comes from shrimp boats and the oil rigs out in the ocean. Bummer.
We also visited a Bird Sanctuary - beautiful place and facility - saw birds but apparently the big influx is spring when the birds are migrating - not too many fall migrators. But were entertained by a long-legged bird called a red (?) egret - he was hilarious as he ran after fish in the shallow water. There are 4 alligators who hang out in that place as well, they have an amazing picture of one of them snatching a bird right out of the air. That photographer must have been amazed he/she got that shot - I sure was!
We hope to go on a dolphin tour - it's in the bay so hopefully calm enough for me to go on and not get sea sick!
I have been informed by my children that my posts are too long - I could have said their attention spans are too short! But that would be mean. And not true. :) I have stories back up because of our limited internet access, but I will just write them in shorter posts since others may not want to sit and read for so long either!
Can anyone tell me how to post pics to blog? I don't see any directions/tutorial anywhere.
Happy Halloween - pretty low key here at the beach. Went out and about a bit but needed a down day - napping, reading, blogging, beach pretty soon. There's a pet costume contest at a local drinkin hole, maybe we'll go, maybe we won't.
Have explored Turtle Inc., a turtle rescue/rehab facility run by local volunteers/interns - started by a woman called "The Turtle Lady" - have read about her. Pretty low key establishment - amazing what they do. So many of the turtles are there because they were found stranded on the beach and found to have eaten plastic bags.
There is a lot of plastic trash along Padre's beach. I read it's because of the currents in theGulf and the wind. They said a lot of it comes from shrimp boats and the oil rigs out in the ocean. Bummer.
We also visited a Bird Sanctuary - beautiful place and facility - saw birds but apparently the big influx is spring when the birds are migrating - not too many fall migrators. But were entertained by a long-legged bird called a red (?) egret - he was hilarious as he ran after fish in the shallow water. There are 4 alligators who hang out in that place as well, they have an amazing picture of one of them snatching a bird right out of the air. That photographer must have been amazed he/she got that shot - I sure was!
We hope to go on a dolphin tour - it's in the bay so hopefully calm enough for me to go on and not get sea sick!
I have been informed by my children that my posts are too long - I could have said their attention spans are too short! But that would be mean. And not true. :) I have stories back up because of our limited internet access, but I will just write them in shorter posts since others may not want to sit and read for so long either!
Can anyone tell me how to post pics to blog? I don't see any directions/tutorial anywhere.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
October 27, 2012 #3
Tired today because of wind last night. Interesting experience to go through - gusts up to 31 miles an hour yesterday, through the night and only in last few hours has it calmed down. Wow, it was noisy and made the rig shake, rattle and roll. I did not sleep as I had images of that 16 wheeler being tossed around in a tornado like a child's toy truck last year. Paul and I joked that maybe we should hook up the truck to the 5th wheel so it's wheels stayed on the ground. It was cloudy all day and so windy it wasn't fun to go out - thought I might need an anchor for my smallest two dogs!!
We went shopping anyway since we are running out of staples (ie, oreos for Paul!!).
Since I am a roads scholar (hence the blog name) I will describe what I have recently learned. Today, I learned Wal Mart is the same no matter what state you're in (and I still spend my money there!).
I have also learned that my dogs must be leash trained. As they have been given freedom most of their lives to just trot out the back door and run around their sizeable back yard, they are a bit confused about how to behave now. They get very excited about all the new smells and the deer running around the RV park in Kerrville TX, and the rabbits running around the RV park here in South Padre Island. (not to mention what are probably feral cats here in the park). They do not understand why their owner gets very frustrated when they wrap her up with their leashes like ribbons on a Maypole! They do not understand why she is upset when they pull her arms out of their sockets!
I have learned to put Maizy on the short leash so she can zig and zag behind Callie, who has surpised me by wanting to be the lead dog in the pack. Callie is usally the submissive dog in the pack, but must be in the lead when out on walks.
Rabbit trail: Is it just me or is the new Chanel commercial with Brad Pitt just stupid. And I'm usually a Brad fan.
Anyway - I must now train my dogs to walk on a leash - duh!
Before we left I knew I had to train Maizy to come as she is prone to front door dashes and then a game of come and get me with her owners. It is not a fun game. In one park she gave Paul the run around for an hour. I showed him how to corner her with a large branch and our broom and she submits. I am sure we provided many minutes of entertainment for other campers. In Kerrville she got out, ran to meet the next door neighbor door and started to play the "come and get me" game but I wouldn't play. I went into the rig, got a Ritz cracker and just said "Maizy, come" and she came immediately. If only I had known that should be my secret weapon! Not pieces of hot dog - Ritz!!
Another dog issue when you're on the road, is dog cleanup - we must not leave " gifts" behind so we are constantly keeping small bags for dog dropping retrievel - some in the truck and some in the rig. We were running out and actually bought some today, where else? Wal Mart. At this RV park they have a posted rule, your dog "scoop" is to be visible at all times when your dog - well, as we use bags I proposed that we wear them on our heads so they were clearly "visible at all times" .... Paul refused . So, we just make sure they're hanging out of our pockets. To this date however, I have not seen any poop police so I'm not real concerned.
One feature of this park is the presence of a county constable who cruises around the streets of the park day and night - nice, but makes me concerned about safety/security if that is needed. It is different in that it is a county park - that clearly shows in its maintenance. It is not as nicely maintained as the private parks we have been in but it's fine for us.
When we arrived it was after hours - having called ahead from the road we were already assigned a space. We had asked Blanca, the friendly reservation clerk, to give us a space as close to water as possible. Well, the space was underneath a bright orange parking lot light and we had a lovely view of the men's bathroom. And absolutely no view of any water. Paul and I were in immediate agreement, do not even unhook and MOVE in the morning. We took the dogs out for their early morning relief walk and found our spot. It was over on the bay side, at the end of the row so we have neighbors on only one side, and on a cul-de-sac so less traffic. Oh, and there's a big turnaround right by us so easier in and out. We have a lovely view of the bay and watch shrimp boats and cargo ships go up and down the channel. Much better site. We also have a large statue of Jesus right out the back window - it is Jesus de Christo de Pescadores - He's the protector of the shrimp fisherman. It was funded by a local family to honor the lives lost on the sea.
One downside to this park is the presence of horrible, terrible, painful little things called sand burrs. They're everywhere - dry, brittle little needle- like burrs on the streets, and horrible prickly green ones growing on grasslike stalks. They cling to bare skin and leave a rash! The poor dogs get them no matter how careful we try to be - we just look, see a limp and say "uh oh - flat tire". We're learning how to keep them off clothes and shoes since we pulled about 30 of them out of our entry rug the first night here! I hope to learn how to post pics in this blog so you can see them!! Gnarly little buggers.
Ok, gotta watch the last inning of the World Series #3 game - Go Giants!!
Happy Trails to you.....
Tired today because of wind last night. Interesting experience to go through - gusts up to 31 miles an hour yesterday, through the night and only in last few hours has it calmed down. Wow, it was noisy and made the rig shake, rattle and roll. I did not sleep as I had images of that 16 wheeler being tossed around in a tornado like a child's toy truck last year. Paul and I joked that maybe we should hook up the truck to the 5th wheel so it's wheels stayed on the ground. It was cloudy all day and so windy it wasn't fun to go out - thought I might need an anchor for my smallest two dogs!!
We went shopping anyway since we are running out of staples (ie, oreos for Paul!!).
Since I am a roads scholar (hence the blog name) I will describe what I have recently learned. Today, I learned Wal Mart is the same no matter what state you're in (and I still spend my money there!).
I have also learned that my dogs must be leash trained. As they have been given freedom most of their lives to just trot out the back door and run around their sizeable back yard, they are a bit confused about how to behave now. They get very excited about all the new smells and the deer running around the RV park in Kerrville TX, and the rabbits running around the RV park here in South Padre Island. (not to mention what are probably feral cats here in the park). They do not understand why their owner gets very frustrated when they wrap her up with their leashes like ribbons on a Maypole! They do not understand why she is upset when they pull her arms out of their sockets!
I have learned to put Maizy on the short leash so she can zig and zag behind Callie, who has surpised me by wanting to be the lead dog in the pack. Callie is usally the submissive dog in the pack, but must be in the lead when out on walks.
Rabbit trail: Is it just me or is the new Chanel commercial with Brad Pitt just stupid. And I'm usually a Brad fan.
Anyway - I must now train my dogs to walk on a leash - duh!
Before we left I knew I had to train Maizy to come as she is prone to front door dashes and then a game of come and get me with her owners. It is not a fun game. In one park she gave Paul the run around for an hour. I showed him how to corner her with a large branch and our broom and she submits. I am sure we provided many minutes of entertainment for other campers. In Kerrville she got out, ran to meet the next door neighbor door and started to play the "come and get me" game but I wouldn't play. I went into the rig, got a Ritz cracker and just said "Maizy, come" and she came immediately. If only I had known that should be my secret weapon! Not pieces of hot dog - Ritz!!
Another dog issue when you're on the road, is dog cleanup - we must not leave " gifts" behind so we are constantly keeping small bags for dog dropping retrievel - some in the truck and some in the rig. We were running out and actually bought some today, where else? Wal Mart. At this RV park they have a posted rule, your dog "scoop" is to be visible at all times when your dog - well, as we use bags I proposed that we wear them on our heads so they were clearly "visible at all times" .... Paul refused . So, we just make sure they're hanging out of our pockets. To this date however, I have not seen any poop police so I'm not real concerned.
One feature of this park is the presence of a county constable who cruises around the streets of the park day and night - nice, but makes me concerned about safety/security if that is needed. It is different in that it is a county park - that clearly shows in its maintenance. It is not as nicely maintained as the private parks we have been in but it's fine for us.
When we arrived it was after hours - having called ahead from the road we were already assigned a space. We had asked Blanca, the friendly reservation clerk, to give us a space as close to water as possible. Well, the space was underneath a bright orange parking lot light and we had a lovely view of the men's bathroom. And absolutely no view of any water. Paul and I were in immediate agreement, do not even unhook and MOVE in the morning. We took the dogs out for their early morning relief walk and found our spot. It was over on the bay side, at the end of the row so we have neighbors on only one side, and on a cul-de-sac so less traffic. Oh, and there's a big turnaround right by us so easier in and out. We have a lovely view of the bay and watch shrimp boats and cargo ships go up and down the channel. Much better site. We also have a large statue of Jesus right out the back window - it is Jesus de Christo de Pescadores - He's the protector of the shrimp fisherman. It was funded by a local family to honor the lives lost on the sea.
One downside to this park is the presence of horrible, terrible, painful little things called sand burrs. They're everywhere - dry, brittle little needle- like burrs on the streets, and horrible prickly green ones growing on grasslike stalks. They cling to bare skin and leave a rash! The poor dogs get them no matter how careful we try to be - we just look, see a limp and say "uh oh - flat tire". We're learning how to keep them off clothes and shoes since we pulled about 30 of them out of our entry rug the first night here! I hope to learn how to post pics in this blog so you can see them!! Gnarly little buggers.
Ok, gotta watch the last inning of the World Series #3 game - Go Giants!!
Happy Trails to you.....
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Blog #2
Poor Giants, rain delay did not help them out.
So, I'm sitting in a laundry room in Albuquerque NM, KOA campground. There is not enough connectivity at our site and it's windy outside - so here I am - it's warm but there is a radio on and it is loud! Oh well.
So to begin at the beginning. After our nephew's lovely wedding to lovely Kim last Friday, October 12 - we started down the road. As planned we made it all the way to a rest stop in Newberry CA - boy were there a lot of trucks there! It was 3 a.m. and first order of business was a trip to the bathroom - it was really loud with all the trucks running their engines, I assume because they were carrying refrigerated loads. We were glad we didn't park down there. It was great to climb into the rig and go to bed - we were asleep in seconds - so tired. Well, the dogs of course do not understand the concept of sleeping in so we were up at 6 a.m. - but that's ok - we had a deadline - we wanted to make it to Albuquerque for the last morning of their International Balloon Fiesta - it was the last morning of the fiesta and there was to be a mass ascension...and we had already paid for our tickets. We did that by stopping at a public library in AZ and purchasing them online - had to print the tickets, thus the need for the library. We kept moving, taking turns driving and napping. So glad Paul bought the truck he did - pulled great up and down those AZ mountains - beautiful country everywhere.
Wellllll - we arrived safely in Albuquerque at 12:30 a.m., looking forward to a few more hours of sleep as we had to be up at 4 a.m. to load the buses. He chose the park n ride lot at an amusement park on the west side of Albuquerque - to organize the thousands of people who come to the balloon fiesta park n ride sites are set up all over albuquerque. Boy do I get tired of typing that name!! When we arrived there wasn't one car in the lot - Paul drove around, picked a site to park and since it was dark, didn't see a limb sticking out - sadly it raked a long rip in our roof. For those not familiar with RVs many have rubberized roofs - we were so careful on roads and other lots. Oh well, maybe 5 hours of sleep just wasn't enough to keep us alert. We knew we couldn't do anything about it at that time so we went to bed. At 4 a.m.I was shocked to wake up and see 20 school buses waiting in line - I hadn't heard one of them enter the parking lot. We quickly dressed in warm clothes, hats, gloves and headed to the bus.
On the bus we met a lovely lady had been traveling America for 4 months --she was from Australia. She recommended if we ever come to the fiesta again to sign up as ground crews - then you get freebies.
It was so exciting to walk onto the grounds - huge - 4 football fields long? Set up just for balloons. Organized in long sections, with permanent small light structures to outline the sections. The sections were also set off with concrete sidewalks and the field in between was grass. Apparently this is one of the few festivals where spectators can walk right up to the balloons and pilots - crazy. Since it was still dark we strolled the 1/2 mile of vendors and bought a delicious breakfast burrito and the most expensive tea ever, $4 a cup! The crowds just grew and grew and we went out to the field to watch pilots begin to inflate their balloons. I will post pics on Snapfish as soon as I can so you can see - it was so exciting = full of sounds and sights I've never experienced. The loud burst of propane into the balloon, the immediate inflation, the basket laying on it's side and finally, lift off! This was called the Dawn Patrol because it was still dark - the balloons would light up against that dark sky and just thrill you. The crowds were so excited - to experience this with hundreds of other excited spectators was so fun!
Later of course, more and more pilots arrived and their teams got them organized and ready. As each section was ready they received a signal to go - so thrilling to see so many balloons go up at once. I had no idea there would be shaped balloons - Darth Vader, Spider Pig, a carosel, Noah's ark. Fun! Pics will tell the story. Eventually every section was up and the sky was full of hot air balloons - just fabulous to see. And then suddenly, they were gone and the sky was empty. Only the grounds remained full, of hundreds and hundreds of people which were all headed back to the same place! Our park n ride bus...luckily they've done this for a few years and their organization showed - in less than 30 minutes we were back at our rig, headin to Taos.
Taos was a surprise - not sure what I expected - more city I guess. It's really spread out in a predominantly scrub-brush high desert. They've maintained the historic look of pueblo styled buildings and maintained the downtown plaza which has existed since the 1800's. Fun to see - small town atmosphere - reminded me of Sonora - small streets with lots of traffic.
We had come to see the Enchanted Circle - an 85 mile scenic drive - with good fall color. Most of the aspen had already dropped their leaves but the cottonwoods were aflame with bright yellow. The scenic drive was amazing in it's geographic diversity - peaks, woods, creeks to treeless plains and snow capped peaks. At the end of the day we went to the other big sight, the Red River Gorge Bridge - fun to see, amazing gorge running through the flat desert.
We were happy with our RVsite - in a small park that could use some maintenance but run by a legally blind owner so looks great considering that. Very woodsy - Paul picked it because it had a creek running through it - which would have been great but it was dry! :) While there we created and improved our dog retrieval system - Paul accidentally allowed Maizy out of the rig twice!! Once he chased that little varmint around for an hour by himself because I was napping. Unfortunately she went out to the road and Paul almost had a heart attack when a mustang came speeding around a curve - she finally followed him back to the rig and we cornered her - when she's cornered she submits and we can leash her up. Otherwise she thinks we're playing and she has a grand ole time running around us in circles. I was working a lot on off leash training but it hasn't sunk in yet obviously.
More later, gotta go tour Albuquerque and buy a vacuum for the rig!!! We are sleepin, breathink and sadly, eatin, dog hair!!!
Poor Giants, rain delay did not help them out.
So, I'm sitting in a laundry room in Albuquerque NM, KOA campground. There is not enough connectivity at our site and it's windy outside - so here I am - it's warm but there is a radio on and it is loud! Oh well.
So to begin at the beginning. After our nephew's lovely wedding to lovely Kim last Friday, October 12 - we started down the road. As planned we made it all the way to a rest stop in Newberry CA - boy were there a lot of trucks there! It was 3 a.m. and first order of business was a trip to the bathroom - it was really loud with all the trucks running their engines, I assume because they were carrying refrigerated loads. We were glad we didn't park down there. It was great to climb into the rig and go to bed - we were asleep in seconds - so tired. Well, the dogs of course do not understand the concept of sleeping in so we were up at 6 a.m. - but that's ok - we had a deadline - we wanted to make it to Albuquerque for the last morning of their International Balloon Fiesta - it was the last morning of the fiesta and there was to be a mass ascension...and we had already paid for our tickets. We did that by stopping at a public library in AZ and purchasing them online - had to print the tickets, thus the need for the library. We kept moving, taking turns driving and napping. So glad Paul bought the truck he did - pulled great up and down those AZ mountains - beautiful country everywhere.
Wellllll - we arrived safely in Albuquerque at 12:30 a.m., looking forward to a few more hours of sleep as we had to be up at 4 a.m. to load the buses. He chose the park n ride lot at an amusement park on the west side of Albuquerque - to organize the thousands of people who come to the balloon fiesta park n ride sites are set up all over albuquerque. Boy do I get tired of typing that name!! When we arrived there wasn't one car in the lot - Paul drove around, picked a site to park and since it was dark, didn't see a limb sticking out - sadly it raked a long rip in our roof. For those not familiar with RVs many have rubberized roofs - we were so careful on roads and other lots. Oh well, maybe 5 hours of sleep just wasn't enough to keep us alert. We knew we couldn't do anything about it at that time so we went to bed. At 4 a.m.I was shocked to wake up and see 20 school buses waiting in line - I hadn't heard one of them enter the parking lot. We quickly dressed in warm clothes, hats, gloves and headed to the bus.
On the bus we met a lovely lady had been traveling America for 4 months --she was from Australia. She recommended if we ever come to the fiesta again to sign up as ground crews - then you get freebies.
It was so exciting to walk onto the grounds - huge - 4 football fields long? Set up just for balloons. Organized in long sections, with permanent small light structures to outline the sections. The sections were also set off with concrete sidewalks and the field in between was grass. Apparently this is one of the few festivals where spectators can walk right up to the balloons and pilots - crazy. Since it was still dark we strolled the 1/2 mile of vendors and bought a delicious breakfast burrito and the most expensive tea ever, $4 a cup! The crowds just grew and grew and we went out to the field to watch pilots begin to inflate their balloons. I will post pics on Snapfish as soon as I can so you can see - it was so exciting = full of sounds and sights I've never experienced. The loud burst of propane into the balloon, the immediate inflation, the basket laying on it's side and finally, lift off! This was called the Dawn Patrol because it was still dark - the balloons would light up against that dark sky and just thrill you. The crowds were so excited - to experience this with hundreds of other excited spectators was so fun!
Later of course, more and more pilots arrived and their teams got them organized and ready. As each section was ready they received a signal to go - so thrilling to see so many balloons go up at once. I had no idea there would be shaped balloons - Darth Vader, Spider Pig, a carosel, Noah's ark. Fun! Pics will tell the story. Eventually every section was up and the sky was full of hot air balloons - just fabulous to see. And then suddenly, they were gone and the sky was empty. Only the grounds remained full, of hundreds and hundreds of people which were all headed back to the same place! Our park n ride bus...luckily they've done this for a few years and their organization showed - in less than 30 minutes we were back at our rig, headin to Taos.
Taos was a surprise - not sure what I expected - more city I guess. It's really spread out in a predominantly scrub-brush high desert. They've maintained the historic look of pueblo styled buildings and maintained the downtown plaza which has existed since the 1800's. Fun to see - small town atmosphere - reminded me of Sonora - small streets with lots of traffic.
We had come to see the Enchanted Circle - an 85 mile scenic drive - with good fall color. Most of the aspen had already dropped their leaves but the cottonwoods were aflame with bright yellow. The scenic drive was amazing in it's geographic diversity - peaks, woods, creeks to treeless plains and snow capped peaks. At the end of the day we went to the other big sight, the Red River Gorge Bridge - fun to see, amazing gorge running through the flat desert.
We were happy with our RVsite - in a small park that could use some maintenance but run by a legally blind owner so looks great considering that. Very woodsy - Paul picked it because it had a creek running through it - which would have been great but it was dry! :) While there we created and improved our dog retrieval system - Paul accidentally allowed Maizy out of the rig twice!! Once he chased that little varmint around for an hour by himself because I was napping. Unfortunately she went out to the road and Paul almost had a heart attack when a mustang came speeding around a curve - she finally followed him back to the rig and we cornered her - when she's cornered she submits and we can leash her up. Otherwise she thinks we're playing and she has a grand ole time running around us in circles. I was working a lot on off leash training but it hasn't sunk in yet obviously.
More later, gotta go tour Albuquerque and buy a vacuum for the rig!!! We are sleepin, breathink and sadly, eatin, dog hair!!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
roadscholar2
Ok, I think I've done it...created a blog - how will I know you've visited? I will become more knowledgeable about these things as I go.
As a road scholar I am constantly learning and I want to share thoughts and lessons with interested friends and family.
It will be a journal of sorts for this, our first, journey in our 5th wheel. This entry may be a short one as I need to finish the laundry and get back to the Giants to see how they do after the rain delay!
Happy Trails, more to come.
As a road scholar I am constantly learning and I want to share thoughts and lessons with interested friends and family.
It will be a journal of sorts for this, our first, journey in our 5th wheel. This entry may be a short one as I need to finish the laundry and get back to the Giants to see how they do after the rain delay!
Happy Trails, more to come.
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