Hello again. Our last chapter
concluded on Saturday, October 3rd when we arrived at the American RV
Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We are here in Albuquerque to
attend another Monaco International Balloon Fiesta Rally. We are
part of the advance crew for the rally and will be moving over to the
Balloon Fiesta field area on Tuesday. On Sunday we met our friends
Ray and Suzie Babcock and Vernon and Peggy Bullock, for lunch in
Albuquerque. They are both camping at Kirtland Air Force Base, which
is on the southeast side of Albuquerque, adjacent to the airport.
Ray is a disabled vet has access to the base and the “fam camp”
RV facilities. They are also coming to the Fiesta. The Bullocks,
are also on the base as guests of Ray and Suzie. We have not seen
the Bullocks since February or the Babcocks since March.
We intended to go to a Cajun restaurant
for lunch, but it was closed, so we ended up going to the Standard
Diner closer to downtown. We had been to the Standard diner a few
years back and enjoyed the food. It is a featured Diners, Drive-ins
and Dives place. I had the same thing I had before, the meat loaf,
which was outstanding then and just as good now. Jackie had the
chicken and waffles and didn't care for the chicken. She said it was
dry. Several of the group also ordered Bloody Marys and they all
sent them back because they had a weird taste. Peggy had fish tacos
and they were served in a nice stainless steel taco rack. When the
manager came by and cleared some of the table Jackie made a comment
that she would like to have the rack. She was just joking, but a few
minutes later the manager came by with a box that had the rack in it.
He said, “At the Standard Diner, if you ask for it, we give it to
you.” After lunch we headed back to the RV park for cocktails with
the rest of the advance crew for the rally.
Monday, October 5th, we left after
lunch and drove over to the Air Force Base for dinner. Peggy made a
big ham and we had sweet potatoes and other goodies to go with it.
The six of us had a great time talking and catching up. We are in
pretty frequent contact with each over by phone and social media, but
it is much better to be together in person. We had a great time and
left the base about 8:00 and headed back to our RV park for the rest
of the night.
Tuesday, October 6th, we were up about
7:00 getting the coach ready for travel. Today is the day the five
couples who are the advance crew for the rally drive over to the
Balloon Fiesta grounds. It is only about a 17 mile drive, but the
work to get ready is the same as if we were going 200. About 10:00
we all met in the dining room of the RV park and helped put together
the goodie bags for the rally. Once we were done with that we just
went back to the coach and hung around until noon when it was time to
drive over to the rally.
We arrived at the rally grounds and got
parked by 1:00. We spent the rest of the afternoon helping the rest
of the crew set up the social area for the rally as well as getting
our own coach settled in for the six night stay. This is total dry
camping and will be our first dry camping experience with the new
refrigerator. At 4:00 the group got together for cocktails and then
we had some burgers and brats grilled by our wagon masters, the Pitts
and the Henschels. We sat and talked until dark and then went back
to our coach for the rest of the night.
Wednesday morning we were up at 6:30
for the first mass ascension of the rally for us. The rest of our
group won't be coming in until about 10:00 or so to park, so we had
time in the morning to watch balloons. A little background on the
Fiesta. This year is the 44th Annual Albuquerque International
Balloon Fiesta. The Fiesta actually goes for ten days, over two
weekends. They have the same basic schedule for the first Friday,
Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and the following Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday. Tuesday is a transition day and there is not
much going on. The Monaco group always goes in on the second half of
the Fiesta. We have been here twice before, in 2010 and 2011.
The Monaco group has prime parking in
the first parking area south of the fiesta grounds. It is an easy
walk to the balloon field and all the vendors and excitement down
there, and the venue is perfect for just sitting in, or in front of,
your coach and watching the balloons go up. In our past visits the
wind usually blew the balloons south, right over our coaches,
however, today the wind was blowing to the north so we watched the
balloons go up and head north. It was still a great sight to see.
They probably launched 250 balloons today, less than half the total
here for the event. The first balloons, the Dawn Patrol, go up about
6:30 to check the winds. If everything is OK, they give the green
flag for the launch and all the other balloons on the field start to
inflate and go up. By 8:00 or a little after they have all launched
for the day.
About 9:30 the first of our group
started arriving and I had to start my parking duties. There were
four of us out there parking all the coaches. We are expecting a
total of 69 RVs for our rally. Jackie was helping with running water
around to the parking crew, getting lunch, and other chores.
We
finally got the last people parked at 4:00, just in time for happy
hour with the group. Harry Henschel, the rally wagonmaster, and his
wife Sandy, are big balloon enthusiasts and crew for several balloons
all over the country all year long. They were here for the first
half of this year's event crewing for a friend of theirs. They know
a lot of pilots and were able to get one of them to come over to the
happy hour with his gear and give a talk on ballooning. He didn't
set up the balloon, but he did pull out the basket so people could
look inside. He spent an hour or so talking and answering questions
about ballooning.
After the presentation we had dinner.
The wagonmasters had brought in a catering service, called Rudy's, to
provide a nice BBQ dinner for us. We had beef brisket, turkey,
beans, cole slaw and some other goodies for dinner and it was very
good. About dark everyone started heading back to their own coaches
for the evening. We went to bed early because we had a long, busy
day. There were no night time activities scheduled for tonight, so
it was quiet.
Thursday, October 8th, we were again up
at dawn to watch the balloons. This morning we walked down onto the
balloon field with Ray and Suzie to watch the mass ascension. It is much more dramatic
when you are up close and personal with the balloons, so we always
try to go down at least once during each visit to the Fiesta. We got
a lot of pictures and watched a lot of balloons take off. After most
of the balloons lifted we walked a few of the vendors. Most of them
are food vendors, but there are a couple of stores selling overpriced
balloon souvenirs.
After we walked back up to the coach we
relaxed for a while before heading out to the first luncheon of the
rally. The first luncheon was at the Taoan Country Club, up in the
foothills of the Sandia Mountains. This was the same place we came
for lunch on our two previous balloon rallies. The clubhouse is very
nice and the views are killer. The food was also quite good,
although the drinks were outrageous. You couldn't afford to get
drunk here. They gave away a bunch of door prizes, one to each
couple, and we got a cute pouch made of cloth with a balloon print.
After lunch we went back to the balloon
fiesta grounds and rested for a little while. At 4:30 the group
happy hour started. Jackie had to make a sausage and cream cheese
dip as here contribution. Before we started happy hour I did a
little veteran's tribute for the group. Happy hour was fun and right
after we had the evening snacks, mostly chips and dips and some
sandwiches and wraps made from the leftovers of the BBQ guys. We all
sat around and talked, waiting for the evening balloon glow. The
balloons will not fly at night because they can't see where they are
going and where they are going to land. However, they do inflate the
balloons in the evenings for a very pretty glow. However, there was
no glow tonight because the winds were too high. About 8:00 they
started the fireworks show, which was fantastic. It lasted about ten
minutes and was really pretty. Again, a lot of pictures were taken.
After the fireworks everyone went back to their coaches for the rest
of the night.
Friday, October 9th, again up at dawn.
I really didn't feel well today. I had chills and was pretty sure I
was running a fever. I still went outside in the morning to watch
the balloons fly. Today's winds took them north at low altitudes and
then back south at higher altitudes. So the balloons were over the
coaches, but pretty high up, so you couldn't really get great
pictures. Still a great sight though. After the morning flight we
relaxed until lunch time. Today we went to El Pinto, a really great
Mexican restaurant not too far from the balloon grounds. This was
also a place we had been before with previous rallies. They had a
really good buffet with great food. Unfortunately, I couldn't really
enjoy it because I was still not feeling good. Everyone else in our
group had a great time and really enjoyed the lunch.
We went back to the balloon grounds
after lunch and waited for happy hour at 4:30. I was feeling a
little better, having beaten down most of the fever with ibuprofen
all day. We all sat and chatted, then had the evening snacks, much
the same as last night. Tonight the balloon glow went off as planned
and we all sat and watched from the group area. You can't see a lot
of the balloons on the field from where we are, but those that you
could see were very pretty. Peggy and Vernon walked down on the
field to watch the glow and said it was even better down there.
Again at 8:00 there was another great fireworks show that scared the
crap out of the dogs in the park, but was very enjoyable for the
people.
Saturday, October 10th, I woke up
feeling better and was up at dawn to watch the flights this morning.
This was by far the best flying day yet. The skies were perfectly
clear and the wind was blowing the balloons straight south over us as
they took off. Because of the clear skies the balloons were sunlit
and the pictures were super. I think all 600 plus balloons flew
today. Today there was no organized lunch for the group, so we and
the Babcocks and Bullocks left the grounds and drove to the same
Cajun restaurant that we had tried to go to Sunday and found closed.
It was called N'awlins Mardi Gras and was a small but friendly place.
The owner and chef came out and greeted us and he had a Louisiana
accent. I had s
After lunch we drove to Costco for a
few things. We also drove back down to the El Pinto restaurant to
get some freshly roasted green chillies for Jackie and Peggy. They
cook them every day but they were out of them when we were there on
Friday. We bought 20 pounds for $20 and split them between us and
the Bullocks. Both of us have a really big bag of peppers to be
cleaned, packaged and frozen. We then went back to the balloon
grounds and relaxed a bit.
The last happy hour started at 4:30 and
we had all the stuff from previous evenings to finish up. About 7:00
the six of us walked down on the field for the balloon glow. Peggy
was right, it is much more fun when you are on the field. In our
previous two visits we never went down on the field for a glow. We
also found a geocache that was hidden on the balloon grounds, our
first cache in a few days. After the glow we went back up to the
group area for the evenings fireworks show. Tonight was the best
because it was the last and they used up everything they had left.
We then went back to our coaches for the night.
Sunday, October 11th, our day of
departure. There was still a mass ascension in the morning, although
the number of balloons was down quite a bit. None of the big, fancy
shape balloons flew. The winds were strange, blowing the balloons
all over the place depending on altitude. After the morning flight
we all started packing up our coaches for travel and breaking down
the stuff in the common area. We were all done and hooked up on our
way out by about 11:00. We and the Bullocks and Babcocks are all
headed west to Gallup, New Mexico for a two night layover. We pulled
into the USA RV Park about 2:30 and got the basic utilities hooked up
before heading out the emergency room to have me looked at. We first
stopped at Wendy's for a quick lunch, since we hadn't eaten yet
today.
I had noticed blood in my urine this
morning, and put together with the fever on Friday I figured I might
have a bladder infection. I was guilty of not getting a lot of
fluids in me early in the week and dehydration is a prime cause for
Urinary Tract Infections, or UTI. We went to the emergency room at
the local hospital in Gallup and I was pleasantly surprised to be
checked in right away, taken to an exam room and seen by a PA, all in
the first 15 minutes. Not the usual ER visit. The PA did a quick
exam, asked a few questions and sent my urine off to the lab. A half
hour later it was confirmed as a UTI and I was given a prescription
for an antibiotic. We stopped at Walmart and got it filled and went
back to the coach. The Babcock's and Bullock's were outside having
cocktails and we stayed out there for a while chatting. They were
doing a BBQ, but we had already eaten so we went in, watched a little
TV and went to bed early.
Monday, October 12th, the six of us
left the RV park and went to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant
called El Matate. It was a small, very authentic place in the
barrio. The food was outstanding, although, as is typical with New
Mexican cooking, a little on the hot side. We all had a great meal.
I had machaca and it was some of the best I have had. After lunch we
all stopped to get one geocache before heading back to the coach for
the rest of the afternoon. We got together for cocktails at 5:00 but
didn't have any dinner.
Tuesday, October 13th, another travel
day. The Babcocks left about an hour before us. They are heading to
Laughlin, Nevada for a day or two before going home. The Bullocks
are going to continue traveling with us for a while, at least as far
as Pahrump. Our initial plan was to stop in Flagstaff, Arizona for a
couple of days. My brother Dennis works in Sedona, only an hour or
so south, and we thought we might go down and have lunch with him.
However, when I got a hold of him, I learned that he was busy and
couldn't get away. We then decided that we would go on to Williams,
Arizona, about 30 miles farther west. We all like Williams better
than Flagstaff. The total trip was about 220 miles, but we gained an
hour back when we traveled into Arizona.
We got to the Grand Canyon Railroad RV
Park just before 3:00 and got settled into some nice spots right next
to each other. We both made grocery runs and had cocktails at 5:00
or so. Jackie made her chili rellano casserole for the four of us
and we had a great dinner. We all also watched the first part of the
Democratic presidential debate before Peggy and Vernon headed off to
their coach.
Wednesday, October 14th, we were up and
out of the coach about 9:00, driving north to the Grand Canyon
National Park. It is only an hour's drive or so from Williams and it
was a nice day, so we decided to drive up there for lunch. We lucked
out and found a parking place right away in the visitor's center
parking lot, a good feat considering how crowded the park was. We
took the shuttle to the canyon rim and went to the El Tovar Lodge for
lunch. The El Tovar was built in 
Thursday, October 15th, another travel
day. We left the RV park about 10:00 and continued west and north,
this time heading for Boulder City, Nevada. Since they opened the
new bridge over the canyon near Hoover Dam the drive to southern
Nevada has gotten a lot easier. We arrived at the Elks Lodge in
Boulder City about 3:00 and settled into our spots. We had called
yesterday and reserved two spots. They have very nice, full hookup
50 amp spots for only $25 a night. Peggy went out to do some
shopping. Jackie and I went into the lodge for a cocktail about
5:00. We had a nice chat with one of the members and learned that
the building the lodge is in was actually the terminal building for
one of the first southern Nevada airports, ironically called Bullock
Field. The building was built in 1938 and the outside still looks
pretty much the same. It is a nice lodge with about 800 members. We
had a couple of cocktails and got a lodge pin for our banner. We
then went over to Peggy and Vernon's coach and Peggy cooked dinner
for the four of us. We had chicken and sweet potatoes, a great meal.
About 8:30 we went back to our coach for the rest of the night.
Friday, October 16th, we and the
Bullocks went out for lunch at a place that was recommended to us by
one of the people in the Elks Lodge last night. It was in old
downtown Boulder City and was called Evan's Downtown Grill. It
wasn't a big place, but it was pretty full. Peggy and Jackie both
had the gyro and Vernon and I both had the Reuben. Everyone really
liked their food, although Jackie said part of her gyro was
overcooked and a little dry. After lunch we went to do a little
geocaching in the downtown area of Boulder City. We were able to get
five new finds, and one new DNF before Peggy and Vernon stopped and
went off on their own to do some shopping.
A little history now on Boulder City
since this is our first visit here. Boulder City was designed and
built by the Federal government in 1931 as a headquarters and housing
for workers building Boulder Dam, now Hoover Dam. The town was under
strict government control during the building of the dam and both
alcohol and gambling were prohibited. Alcohol was only legalized in
1969 and gambling is still prohibited in the city, one of only two
cities in Nevada with such laws. The town remained under Federal
government control until 1959 when it was incorporated as a Nevada
charter city. The city's population is currently about 15,000.
After Peggy and Vernon left to do their
shopping we drove into nearby Henderson to visit the Henderson Elks
Lodge. We got there about 2:30 or so and were the only ones in the
bar. We had a nice chat with the volunteer bartender, who was also
one of the officers of the Lodge. According to him they only have
about 160 members with an average age of over 70. Based on our
experience over ten years of visiting lodges around the country, I
don't think this lodge has too many more years before it is forced to
fold. The building it is in is very dreary, no windows and the bar
looks like somebody's basement. We had one drink and got a pin for
our banner before leaving. There was a Camping World on the way back
to the Boulder City lodge, so we stopped to pick up a few supplies we
needed. We then headed back to the coach. We had cocktails with the
Bullocks about 5:30 and I made up a batch of chili for the four of us
for dinner. We had dinner and talked until about 8:00 when the
Bullocks left and we watched TV until bedtime.
Saturday, October 17th, another travel
day. We and the Bullocks were packed up and headed out of the
Boulder City Elks about 10:00, headed through Las Vegas and on to
Pahrump, our “home” town. I have been experiencing a bit of
overheating on the coach when climbing steep hills, so we unhooked
the car before heading over the mountains from Vegas to Pahrump.
Without the heavy car the coach did fine on the climb and we arrived
at the Wine Ridge RV Resort about 11:30. We are going to be here for
a month, so we got a spot close to the pool so I could use the spa
when I wanted.
We spent the rest of the afternoon
getting set up for our month long stay. The Bullocks got a spot down
the same street. They are going to stay here about four or five days
before heading to their home in California.
About 5:30 we walked over to Peggy and
Vernon's for cocktails and dinner. Peggy made a big batch of
tortellini soup which was fantastic. We sat and talked until about
8:30 when we went home, watched a little TV and then went to bed.
Our arrival here in Pahrump marks a good place to close this chapter
of the blog and get it published. Until next time, remember that
advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we
didn't. See ya soon.
