Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

We just finished up an amazing 12 days in Albuquerque New Mexico, taking in all the fun and excitement of the Balloon Fiesta, which is the largest gathering of hot air balloons in the world. Every fall balloonists come together for what ends up being one of the most spectacular sights we've ever seen...when hundreds of beautiful hot air balloons take flight. 

We consider ourselves lucky to have met Dave & Leslie last spring, who told us they had two hot air balloons, and invited us to crew for them in Albuquerque. We jumped at the chance. As the time got closer and we heard they could use another couple to crew as well, we invited our friends, Bob & Molly to join us. Dawnna, a balloon pilot from Colorado, and her crew chief Marilyn were also part of our crew. Dawnna also got a chance to fly both of Dave's balloons. Before long we realized the eight of us got along great and a bond of friendship and camaraderie quickly formed. Dave built both "Wicked" and "Pi" in his living room. It's obvious he's very passionate about ballooning and was a great teacher, explaining every aspect of the sport to us. After a few days we proved to be a pretty worthy crew.

Rather than go on and on about how great it was, we'll just post some pictures for you to enjoy. 

Since we took hundreds of photos, I tried to pick out some of our favorites. 

These photos were taken while on the ground at Fiesta Field....

All of us got to fly throughout the Fiesta. What a great feeling to float weightlessly through the air! The next photos were taken while we were flying....

This is "Wicked" being inflated...

I took this photo looking straight up inside "Wicked", which we flew in the first day of Fiesta...

This is "Pi", Dave & Leslie's 'happy apple' balloon, while we were just starting to  inflate. Bob & Molly flew with Dave in Pi and Jean flew in Pi. 

And here's Pi in the air, being happy!

Pi, coming in for a landing back on the field.....

Balloon Fiesta was an experience we'll never forget. It's hard to show in pictures just how many balloons were on the field and in the air at once, or just how spectacular that was to see. Our experience was made even better because of the company we kept and the crew we became. 

Discoverinig Arches National Park

The hardest part about trying to figure out what to write about our incredible visit to Arches National Park is where to start and how to keep it somewhat short. We spent 4 days hiking and sightseeing Arches, and could have easily been there for weeks, or longer. It wasn't always easy hiking there because dogs are not allowed on any trails within the park and it was much too hot to leave Maggie behind for very long. However, we managed to get in quite a few 1-3 mile hikes. What we saw was breathtakingly beautiful. Since words can't describe the beauty of God's Artwork in Arches, we'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Wookie!

In taking a short walk from the turnout we entered into Sand Dune Arch. It was so cool inside on such a hot day. 

One of the park's greatest attractions is Delicate Arch. We got up early one morning to beat the heat and make the trek up the slickrock trail. The trail is 1.5 miles up and of course 1.5 miles back down on the return. We love hiking on slickrock. It feels like we're on the surface of the moon! Small cairns mark the way, as I'm sure you could get disoriented walking on such huge rock surfaces. Delicate Arch doesn't come into view until the last few steps of the hike. It's well worth it!

This is not it! Just one of many arches within the park along the trail.

Delicate Arch...

And here we are, at the base. Kind of gives a little perspective of how big this arch really is.

Arches has so many arches! There are actually 2,000 arches within the park. It's such a magical place! On another days hike we checked out Landscape Arch. Along the trail there were several side trails that took us to other arches along the way. Each is unique.

And finally.....Landscape Arch.

Couldn't resist taking this picture of Duane. Seems he fits right in!

We met a delightful couple, Chris & Jen, while on top of Delicate Arch that told us of an evening hike they had enjoyed. The next night we took the Park Avenue canyon hike. The parking lot was completely shaded and Maggie was content to hang out in the truck for us. The canyon was  shaded and cool. We met very few people along the way. The evening shadows gave the canyon a bronze glow.

Behind Jean are stone pillars called "The Three Gossips". They seem to be talking about us!

And, not to leave Maggie out of all the fun, we took a beautiful evening hike into Negro Bill Canyon, just outside the park. There's quite a colorful tale behind this man called "Negro Bill" (William Granstaff), and this canyon he raised cattle in back in the 1800's. Seems Bill had quite an empire going for himself until he was eventually run out of the area for bootlegging liquor to the Indians. Maggie however could have cared less about the history. Instead was thrilled to be hiking with us again!

We also got Maggie out onto another hike as well. For as much as she had to stay in the cool, air conditioned truck, she still got to explore and have fun.

We left Arches feeling enriched after being there. This land left us almost without the words to describe it. The grandeur of the area is just that.... grand.