Tucson Arizona

  Tucson is one of our favorite places, we have family here and I love the sunshine. We arrived Friday and checked into the Tra-Tel RV Park. Tra-Tel is a passport America park but PA isn't good after Oct 15th because they fill up with snowbirds. But we were lucky enough to get in before some of the snowbirds were due in so we got the PA rate for one week.

 After setting up we drove the 3 miles to Aunt Arleen's. It is always good to see her, she is so full of life and always finds the right things to say to make you laugh and feel at home. After visiting for an hour or so we called our cousin Bill and he came over. Bill has always been one of my favorite cousins, him being several years older than me had me always looking up to him.

 Later Friday night we were invited to Pam and John's for Yahtzee night. Pam has always been the entertainer, she enjoys having large numbers of people over and it always turns out to be a fun time. Andrew and his wife with their two youngens, Brian and his girlfriend, us, John and Pam, and a couple of their friends all joined for the fun.

 Andrew had the dogs and burgers ready when Pam got off work, so the party started. The guys didn't roll too well at Yahtzee, but we did have a good time and we all ate well. Arleen joined us later and saved the night by taking care of the little ones.

 Later during the week we had great times visiting with everyone, and last night turned into taco night with Yahtzee following. One day we went to visit our friends Mark and Lidia at the park they are staying at for the winter. Mark and Lidia have been full timing for only 5-6 months, and we had met them in Yellowstone last month.

 One evening we had dinner with Mark and Lidia, and Bill and Priscilla, we had met Bill and Priscilla in Moab and spent a few days wheeling with them. It was at the Silver Saddle Steak House, and although the prices were a little high it worked out because the meals were large enough that we all split a meal and just ordered and extra salad. after eating Mark and Lidia came to the rig and we played cards for several hours. It is always great to meet up with friends all over the country.

 Friday we moved the rig from Tra-Tel to camp Arleen's. John had put in a 30 amp service and moved their motorhome into the back yard so we can just park the rig at Arleen's any time we are in the area. Tomorrow we will leave the great company and hospitality and head to Phoenix area where we will have the rig in the shop to straighten out the front end. We may have to bite the bullet and invest in 6 new tires for the Kountry Star.

 We will be meeting John and Pam in Laughlin Nevada for a weekend out, I told them we would need a couple weeks to drive that far, so Pam said we better hit the road............... until the next time...........

Deming New Mexico

Tuesday we pulled into Dream catcher RV Park in Deming NM. It was gr8 to see the Dub-uuus (Wanda and Wallace) First thing Wanda said was "I'll fix soup beans and cornbread tonight, and we'll go to Mexico tomorrow". Who can pass up soup beans and cornbread, or a trip to Mexico?

  We got the rig set up and a couple hours later a fifth wheel stops in the road next to our rig and Marty jumps out. We spent some time catching up until Marty decides he really should get his rig out of the middle of the road. (glad it isn't real busy here)

 Later we did happy hour, seeing friends we hadn't seen in months or even years. One thing about being an Escapee is you will run into friends at every Escapee Park. There was no organized happy hour, everyone just sat around the tables and visited.

 After happy hour we went to the dub-uuus and enjoyed a down home meal. Wallace grilled some chops, and Wanda had the beans and cornbread sitting on the counter waiting on us, with plenty of onions and tomatoes to top off the meal. The beans were this years crop, grown right here in Deming, and I'm sure the onions and tomatoes were from close by. Thank you DUB-UUUS............

 Then next morning we headed to Mexico, The PINK store. Marcia and I picked up some smokes at the duty free store before we walked into Mexico, Wanda checked on some glasses, and we all looked around the PINK store. (Algadonees outside of Yuma has the PURPLE store) The nice lady at the PINK store brought us a Margarita to sip on as we looked around.

 After looking around a bit we sat down to eat. The PINK store is a one stop place, all kinds of wares to buy, furniture, ornaments, liquor, nic naks, and they have the best food in town. The Dub-uuus are on first name basis with almost everyone in the PINK store, so we got an extra Margarita.

 Thursday we visited with Marty a little while before he went on a water run, and we went to check out a shop to look at the front end of the Kountry Star. While we were in MI this summer I noticed the right front tire was developing flat spots on it, so I've been watching it close. After Escapade it was getting worse so I started looking for a shop to inspect it.

 I had put a post on the forum about the tire and had some awesome responses as to what could cause the tire to get flat spots on it. Bottom line is I want a QUALIFIED shop to do any repairs, and Spartan couldn't tell me of one in NM. So Wallace said there was only one shop here in Deming that he would take it to, and after talking to them I'm going to let them look at it, but mainly I will have them rotate a couple tires so I can watch it to see if it might just be the tire bad. Any repairs will (unless they find something bad wrong) will come when we get to TX or AZ.

 Once we leave the tire shop we will have to decide which way to go when we get to I-10. East to see some of the south we haven't seen, or west to CA to use up some of our thousand trails time. Either way we will be in KY the second week of Dec to watch our daughter graduate from the University of Tennessee, and Q in Jan for the Class of 2007's 5 year reunion.................

The Last Balloon Pictures

These pictures are from Saturdays MASS Ascension.

Marcia and Jim are in the balloon with the black stripe near the top.

A better picture of the balloon "Morning Wood" Daniel is the pilot and Marcia and Jim are in the balloon with him.

I was "zoomed" in as far as my 10X zoom would get me.

If you enlarge this picture you can see Marcia and Jim waving at me.

I'm standing beside our RV taking these pictures.

Yes that is SN** on the mtns in the background.

Even Uncle Sam was flying.

Daniel is setting the balloon down where they change passengers. Marcia and Jim get out and Nancy and Terry got in for a short ride.

Here the "first time fliers" get their initiation. They knelt down as Chris told the story, and then the champagne hit.

Jim, Nancy, Marcia, and several others with the Escapee Boomers got up before daylight almost every morning, fought the cold and darkness, to crew for their pilots so these flights could happen. During the flights they drove and rode in chase trucks so they could help pack everything up so it would be ready for the next flight. They worked very hard, and got up really early to crew for these pilots, and they deserved a lot more than they got, but they all said the enjoyed it and would do it again.

I didn't get out of bed for the Farewell mass ascension Sunday AM, I had seen enough and it was too cold for me to stand out there taking pictures.

Over all the 2011 ABQ Balloon Fiesta was a lot of fun.

More Balloon Pictu

These are some of the pictures I took the first few days of the Balloon Fiesta.

Remember to check back because I still have another weekend full of pictures to post. The next set of pictures will include some of the pictures Marcia took while she was up in the balloon, and I have several of the balloon she was in although my zoom wouldn't pull it in as well as I had hoped it would. So please stay tuned.....