Saturday

I think we were lucky to have had the best morning for the balloon fiesta.....since our visit the wind has been a rather constant visitor and that doesn't make for safe balloon flights.       Here are a few more pictures of our wonderful morning with Wendy and James.

first flight to accompany the National Anthem

Wendy has flown balloons (herself!) and gave us interesting
insights and anecdotes

The huge "special shapes" inflating

We've been having a wonderful time getting caught up with friends.   Friday afternoon Ann and David came up from Los Lunas for happy hour here in Beluga and then dinner at Crepe Michel in Old Town Albuquerque.

fresh  ristras for sale

 Yes, I know what you're saying - you ate French food in Albuquerque, a place famous for its fabulous New Mexican cuisine?    What can I say, this restaurant is a favorite of the four of us.     We first met David and Ann and a group of their friends on our motorhome trip to Mexico in 2002 and have stayed in touch since then.    They have a lovely home in an airport community and we've parked Beluga in their driveway in the past.  

David and Ann take a moment from their yummy meals

David is a pilot and an avid golfer.    He's asked Dave to join him at the Isleta Golf Club on Tuesday so we've extended our stay here until Wednesday morning.  Dave rarely passes up a chance to play golf and he always has a great time with  David.



Mystery picture...can you guess what this is?

quick update

Our second day of driving in the wind was stressful and tiring, but not catastrophic.     We arrived at the High Desert RV Park around 3:30 on Tuesday and parked directly in front of our friends Don and Carol.   They are here attending a Monaco Rally at the Balloon Fiesta and they arrived a day early so we could visit a bit before they moved to the Fiesta field with their group.

We met them in Polson, Montana when Dave noticed a motorhome with NYS license plates parked a row in front of us.   He, of course, ended up talking to the man and found out they were from the Rochester area, not far from where we lived.    The rest is history!   We've become friends.  They travel part of the year and are home the rest, we look forward to crossing paths wherever and whenever we can.

After we set up camp and settled Lewis we went back to their coach for happy hour.  Don's brother, Len and his wife, Chris were already there.    I can't tell you how wonderful it was to be welcomed into good friend's home, and to be able to relax and laugh after a long, harried ride.    Thanks Don and Carol.

Len, Chris, Carol and Don
I don't know why Carol is showing you he watermelon....

This will be a quick update because Dave and I had a very early wake up call this morning.

yes, that is 3:45 A.M.

Wendy and James, friends we first met at Mission Bay RV Park (San Diego) in  2012, have a lovely home here and invited us to join them at a Rotary sponsored trip to the Balloon Fiesta.   Another delightful couple we try to see whenever and wherever our paths cross!   Isn't this lifestyle grand?

At any rate, I can barely keep my eyes open right now, but I wanted to show you a few pictures of our morning's adventure.      More to follow.....

a bleary-eyed photograph of Wendy and James.....
 even my camera had trouble focusing at that time of the morning!

inflating balloons jostle for room on the field

Yoda hiding behind Darth

Note to self......

Note to self....do NOT drive Beluga when a high wind advisory has been posted.

We left Chatfield State Park this morning about 10 a.m. with Trinidad State Park as our destination for the night.    It was windy but nothing Dave couldn't handle.

Lewis is finally getting the hang of NOT peeing into the wind

The further south we drove, the stronger the sustained winds became.   To say nothing about the gusts - oh the gusts.  

Its been a nasty day of driving.   We're in for the night, safe and sound, at Lathrop State Park, near Walsenburg Colorado, just west of I-25.

Our day began to go pear shaped as we passed through Pueblo.   I could see a huge wildfire starting to our west near Beulah.

as of this writing, the fire has consumed over 3000 acres

  Dave and Beluga were fighting sustained winds of at least 40 mph with higher gusts slamming into our front passenger corner every few minutes.    I could see it was a real struggle.

bang bang bang bang bang bang bang.....what was that?  The sharp sounds were coming from the driver's front corner, there was no where to pull off the busy highway to check it out.    We had to drive a few miles with the sound urging us to stop.

Once we could safely pull over Dave discovered that two of the snaps holding the bra in place had come loose and were banging and flapping on Beluga's nose.
Lovely chunks of paint were dug away each time the snap hit the front cap.   Grrr.      Dave managed to get the bra off and stow in a compartment without it flying away to Kansas and we continued on our way.

Dave wrestles the bra

Then the bedroom awning began to unroll, fly up over Beluga's roof and then slam back down again.    I could see it in my mirror.   We could hear it.

As I watched the awning bubble up,
I could see smoke from the fire behind Beluga

 After a few miles we exited the highway in the middle of absolutely no where.

   To make a long, scary story short, Dave dug the ladder out of the Jeep, set it up alongside Beluga and carefully climbed up with 3 bungies to try to strap the awning down.    My heart was in my mouth because the wind was blowing so hard that it took quite a while to just push Beluga's door open to get outside, much less stand on a ladder on the shoulder of the road.    I could just see him and the ladder crashing over any minute.   (I still took pictures, don't judge me)

gust kept trying to snatch Dave's shirt away

After about half an hour of effort the awning was tentatively secured and we were on our way once more.      Pop!   A particularly strong gust hit us and we heard the bungies give up and fly off the awning.    And we were back at square one.

Do we turn around and head back to Colorado City?   The fire was growing stronger in the wind just west of us.     Do we push on to Trinidad (where we had a reservation) about 30 miles away?     The decision was made to try and make it to Lathrop State Park in Walsenburg, only about 10 miles ahead.    We hoped the awning would arrive with us.

I opened the Ipad to find directions to the park.   It was on the dashboard when another vicious gust hit us and it flew off, hitting Dave's beautiful new stool on its way to its final destination, the bottom of the stair well.   That could have just been the last straw, it really could have, but the thing landed unharmed,  still broadcasting directions.

So....tonight we're tucked into a nice site, snuggled behind some junipers and out of the wind.    Bellies filled with a good stiff G&T and yummy left over pizza, we're heading to bed.    Tomorrow is another day.

Last days in Denver

Today is our last day in the Denver area.   This month has flown by and its "jack's up" in the morning.    I'm sad to be leaving Jesse and Erin, sad to be leaving this beautiful part of the country, but I'm excited to get on the road again, understand?

This morning, Sunday, Jesse took Dave on one of his favorite hikes in the mountains.....his celebration of "dad's day".   They started at Moffatt Tunnel and hiked up to Crater Lakes and Rollins Pass.

  After returning from their hike of a little over 6 miles at between 9,000 and 11,000 feet they capped the morning off with lunch of burgers and beers.     Later on Dave and I went to the house for a last night Pizza dinner and shared our last Oregon Pinot Noir.  Perfect day.

Here are a few odds and ends of our last week.   We got some work done, had some more wonderful dinners out, a "tour" around some of the quirky and interesting neighborhoods in downtown Denver and just enjoyed our surroundings.

second cup in the "laundry room"

Lewis gets a new fluffy

Beluga transforms into a grooming salon in the blink of an eye

Mr. David's A-1 Reliable Plumbing Services made a house call

we took advantage of the inexpensive light rail
service from Littleton into Union Station downtown

Downtown Denver is booming!

Jesse meets us at Union Station after work

details

a "plastic" Octopus from Bandon's Washed Ashore project in front of
Union Station

Erin gives a tour of another of her design spaces

Dave examines the unique sound proofing
in one of the private phone use areas

a really really sound proof phone
booth for really really private
conversations...bring your own phone!

the building's wonderful roof top relaxation space

one of the clever street art installations in an area called the
RiNo Arts District.   It changes depending on your direction of travel.

beautiful old ladies stand quietly next to the vibrantly painted young 

Approaching the Denver Art Museum in the Civic Center area

we were too late to tour the exhibits inside but
the architecture itself was a fine example of modern art!

Oh Dave.....Oh Erin

fun to watch children "enjoy" the sculptures outside the museum

last night's pizza party with the last bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir :(

We've had a wonderful visit with Jesse and Erin.   We've been able to spend quality time with them, doing fun things, and mundane things, got up close and personal with their new house, their jobs, their life together.   We've seen new parts of the city, eaten wonderful dinners (large and small, in restaurants and at home) had good conversations (serious and frivolous), been treated to a carefully thought out and memorable "mom's day" and  "dad's day", gotten our Golden Retriever fix, drove some fun dirt roads, hiked some easy and some hard trails and enjoyed the simple views from our campsite at Chatfield State Park.    Its been so very pleasant but now its time to go.

I've loved the way sun shine lights up the yellow hillsides here

Jesse and Erin.....Thanks for making our visit perfect, we'll miss you.