Marcum Memories

October 9: The last day of our trip. We decided to backtrack to I-40 by driving through the Petrified Forest National Park (https://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm) and exit at the north entrance 19 miles away. It is amazing to see all the petrified wood logs. There are many things to do in the park--overlooks, short trails, paleo lab, backcountry hikes--for different interests and abilities and is dog friendly. I-40 is known for being a bad road to travel and it lived up to its reputation. Sunny never got over the bumps affecting her. She travels really well on smooth roads. We arrived home at about 3:30 pm and took a sigh of relief. WE ARE HOME!! We parked in the driveway, unhitched the dirty Jeep and started unpacking. The RV and Jeep need engine tuneups after being on the road so long. 22,307 starting miles, 33,364 ending miles + 11,057 mile trip. Thank you for following along with us and I wish I was a little more prompt with some of the blogs. I hope you enjoyed the journey with us. G...

October 8: Balloon Fiesta departure day. It has been an amazing time at the Fiesta. We have met some wonderful folks from all over the US, as is usual on a FRVT. We enjoyed the balloons again but they were flying in full force. It was hard to leave the park(ing lot) because this was the very best day we had for balloons. They were everywhere. We packed up our stuff, hitched up the Jeep and were on our way. We made a reservation with Harvest Host at a museum at the south entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park and arrived at about 3:30 pm. We settled in, enjoyed a meal then toured the museum and, of course, found something to buy. We were able to get a site with 30 amp power so we could run an AC.  

October 7: We rose fairly early in order to see the balloons fly over and it was a good day weather wise. The balloons were flying and most were able to complete the "box". There is a unique wind situation in Albuquerque. When the early morning temperature is right, the wind is right, the balloons fly low then rise and go back to the field to land. It is quite a sight to see balloons crossing paths (so to speak). I was able to capture a short video of the "box" effect. Balloons were everywhere and the sky was very colorful. On the schedule was a bus trip to the Turquoise Museum and the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. The Turquoise Museum (https://turquoisemuseum.com/) was amazing. We were given a couple of demonstrations about jewelry making and then we toured the museum. There were several international displays of items that had been donated to the museum. We then went to the Museum of Nuclear Science & History (https://www.nuclearmuseum.org/...

October 6: Today we slept in a bit but were woken by the sound of "swish ... swish" and when I went outside to take Sunny for her first walk of the day, I was amazed to see balloons, balloons and more balloons. The weather/wind hasn't been kind to the balloonists so the wind sort of tied down and the balloons were beginning to descend. They were descending right around us. We are parked in a gigantic parking lot but the way the RVs are parked there are large roadways between them. Two balloons came down in the roadway and several of our group, including Alan, were able to help the pilot. It takes a lot of work to get the balloon up in the air and also to gain control once the balloon needs to land. It was an exciting morning to say the least. We enjoyed a Sunday Brunch in the event tent after which we did some shopping. Later in the afternoon we enjoyed an ice cream social and FRVT's presentation. After dark, we took our chairs out to the field and enjoyed the firewor...