World War 2 vintage plane

  

Pima Air Museum

James Bond Octopussy plane  

Tucson, Arizona

We left the Flagstaff area and drove south to Mesa where we stayed for 4 nights. During that time we enjoyed the amenities of a very nice RV park. We are also enjoying the much warmer weather. We also met up with Connie's mom and dad at the Mesa Market - a big swap/flea market. And afterwards we went out for lunch.

On Sunday we drove south to Tucson to meet up with friends, Sue and Richard. We're staying at a big park here. On Monday we drove south to a big housing development called Quail Creek. This is where Sue and Richard's new home is being built. It's due to be completed in early February. We walked through the models and also through their new home. Today, Tuesday, we visited the Pima Air and Space Museumn.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 1st, Connie flies back to Seattle to do some work for the bank where she worked for 20 years.

Also, today is halloween. Happy birthday to Connie's, son, Brian, and grandson, Cody. They are 21 years apart in age and Cody is 16, so you can do the math on Brian.

Colorado River runs through the Canyon

  

Beautiful views

Grand Canyon  

Watchtower

Grand Canyon structure build in the 1930's  

Grand Canyon

We had a great day  

Sunrise at Mather Point

Grand Canyon  

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Friday we drove west to Williams, Arizona. This is the last town on Route 66 that was bypassed by the freeway. Saturday we did a day trip to the Grand Canyon. And what a day! We left the fifth wheel at about 5:15a.m. so that we could see sunrise at the South Rim. We watched the sunrise from Mather Point. We couldn't believe how many people were there along with us.

After the sun came up we headed over to the lodge for a cinnamon roll and coffee to warm up. From the Bright Angel lodge along the rim to Hermits Rest you have to either walk or use the shuttle bus. So, we hoped on a bus for the first leg of the trip and from there walked about 4 miles along the rim trail. We saw lots of beautiful views of the canyon. We even spotted the mules coming down the Bright Angel trail. We continued on the rim drive via bus to Hermits Rest and then returned back to our vehicle via the bus.

Next we drove east along the south rim to Desert View. There were numerous viewpoints and pull-offs and we stopped at almost all of them. At Desert View there is an old stone watchtower that is about 5 stories high - it was built in the early 1930's. It was designed by Mary Colter and sits out on a promontory overlooking the Grand Canyon.

Sunday we drove to a military recreation area just south of Flagstaff that has lodges, cabins, and RV sites. We're here for 3 days. We also drove the Oak Creek Canyon scenic highway to Sedona. We poked around the shops there and had dinner.

Today, Monday, the weather is pretty nice - low 60's and sunny. We are at 7,000 feet. In Sedona it was much warmer - the elevation is only about 5,000 feet.

This was Buddy's " play toy ! ! ? " in our newest campground. we moved buddy inside and let this critter head West.

  

Blue Mesa

Petrified Forest National Park  

Petrified Forest

A beauty  

Painted Desert

Part of Petrified Forest National Park  

Modern art...........1000 years old ???? !!!!

  

Petrified Forest

Such beautiful colors  

Petrified Forest, Arizona

Wednesday morning we left Albuequerque, New Mexico and drove west to the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. We stayed the night in an RV park about 12 miles west of the park. Thursday morning we were up bright and early and headed to the Petrified Forest. The drive through the park is 26 miles one-way.

We stopped at almost every viewpoint and trailhead in the park. Connie's stepmeter clocked over 17,000 steps for the day. We started at the south end of the park with a tour of the museum and then did both the big logs and long logs trails. The long logs trail has the most petrified wood in the park. We did the Crystal Forest walk which has lots of petrified wood of various colors. Next was the blue mesa nature hike. We also stopped at Newspaper rock. This was Bob's favorite stop in the park. Lots of petrographs were visible here.

The north end of the park has some beautiful views of the painted desert. We did a short rim walk here, but we're too tired to do the whole walk. We had a great day here in the park - nice weather - sunny and in the high 50's with no wind.

Friday we head west towards the Grand Canyon.

Yellowstone

This picture was taken at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It's a little late in being posted, but it's such a great picture of the falls.  

Balloons shot thru roof vent fan blades in our bedroom :)!

  

A close encounter.....landed in our truck.......... almost !!!!!

This balloon landed next to our fifth wheel on Sunday morning  

A jumble of balloons

  

We took lots of pictures!

  

A favorite balloon

So many beautiful balloons

  

We love the purple balloon

  

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Thursday we arrived at the RV Balloon Fiesta RV parking. There are anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 RV's that get parked here during the 10 day Fiesta. We paid $24.00 a night for dry camping. It's a little pricey, but couldn't be anymore convenient to the Balloon park. We've been riding our bikes over to the Balloon park entrance which is about 1/2 a mile away.

We attended our first event on Thursday evening. It was the special shapes rodeo followed by fireworks. No ballons actually lift off. The various special shaped balloons are inflated and then glow in the dark. About 8:00p.m. there is a firewooks display.

Friday morning we arrived at the balloon park about 7:00a.m. Again, the special shapes were blownup and then lifted off. They were done by about 8:30 or 9:00. Shortly after that the regular balloons took off north of the field and came low over the field for the key grab competition. The ballonist try to grab an envelope off a pole in the middle of the field. They can win a Honda truck or various cash prizes. What seemed like hundreds of balloons came over the field trying to grab the key. It really gives a great view of the different balloons. In the afternoon we went to old town Albuquerque. It was a quite nice day - in the mid 70's. All in all a perfect day.

Saturday morning we arrived again at the park by 7:00a.m. Unfortunately, it was windy. Finally, about 7:45 the balloons started lifting off. Many balloons did lift off - but probably at least half didn't get airborne. This was to be a mass ascension. By 8:30 there were reports of lightening and no more balloons lifted off.

Saturday afternoon we went to the Balloon Museum. This nice museum is located on the road into the balloon park. We happened to enter right when a tour had just started. We joined into the tour and learned lots of interesting information about balloons that have flown around the world and crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific. Also, some interesting info about balloons that were let off by the Japanese from November 1944 to March of 1945. These balloons had bombs attached and actually landed in the United States. They were quite an engineering marvel. The United States government knew they were landing and were fighting the fires caused by the bombs, but asked the press to never report on them landing in the U.S. They didn't want Japan to know that they had actually landed because if the Japanese knew they had been successful they might have loaded them with chemical weapons. Imagine in this day and age the press keeping quiet about something like this!!

Balloon Fiesta Saturday morning

  

Day three, overcast but fun !

  

Balloon Fiesta

  

Balloon Fiesta

Friday, October, 13th  

Albuquerque Balloon Festival