...up, up, and away....

I have to say riding in a hot air balloon over the Arizona desert has to be the best birthday present ever...it was an early morning, having to arrive at the airport at 5:15 we had to leave the house at 4:15...there were eight other people in our group...we were told the winds were not good to depart from that location so we had to drive about 20 minutes away...great time to meet new people...our captain, Captain Frank, went over the history of ballooning and a few rules and said "as soon as the basket stands up, hop in and we're off and we can't wait for you"...holy cow...I was a little nervous because I had a higher wall to climb than the others in our group...he he...it was awesome watching the balloon fill up with air...as soon as the basket stood up we were all scrambling to get inside...it was a pretty quick take off once everyone was inside...OMG...it was beautiful...we saw a pack of wild burros running across the desert...we flew over two mountains and a couple of villages and a lake....after about an hour and a half our captain started looking for a place to land in the desert...no roads, just cactus and dirt...he radioed his crew and we saw them chasing us...we watched them leave the highway and drive across the wide open spaces...it really was something....there were two trucks....one group caught the basket as we decended and another group set up a table with table cloths, china, crystal champagne glasses and served us quiche, cheese, crossants and apples...oh yeah, and four bottles of champagne...a birthday I won't forget.....happy 6oth.....

...another desert campground...

we requested a site with shade...he he...it was a unique campground and I really did like it there...on the side of the Florida Mountain range, the sunsets were unbelievable...we found out the colors were from all the sand in the air...they were beautiful...I took a mile hike up the mountain and saw some unusual cactus but I guess any cactus I see growing in the wild is unusual to me...he he...better to see the cactus than Bill seeing a rattlesnake with 4 rattles and darn he didn't have the camera...there was not much going on in Deming...only tourist stop we made was at the largest winery in New Mexico...St. Claire Vineyards and yes, we had to taste the wine and yes we had to purchase some...he he...next stop Tucson, Arizona...do you think they will have shade in the campground...we'll see.....

...it's the mirrors....

...of the three telescopes at the McDonald Observatory, the Hobby Eberly consists of 91 mirror segments, making it the third largest telescope designed to specialize in spectroscopy ...unbelievable... our tour guide was so excited about adding to this telescope to study the dark energy which is something the scientists can't figure out....

we took the two and half hour tour...starting with an amazing video of the sun and a lecture and a live shot of the sun...solar flares, sun spots and gas bubbles...where was I during science class...Rachel our tour guide was so informative and interesting, I was thinking maybe she might need an assistant this summer...he he...

the view from the top of the mountain was amazing...they told us the reason for the location was because of it being the darkest place in the US...they were having a star watching party that night at 10 o'clock, which had to be totally awesome but we were an hour away from camp and opted out...looking back up the mountain, I couldn't believe how far it was...a trip well worth it....



on our drive back we stopped at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens...just a tip...don't try this at 2 o'clock in the afternoon...only 109...we managed the mile walk around and saw some unusual cactus but we were ready for the air condition ride back to the RV....little did we know that our RV air conditioner would have tripped the circut breaker and it was 107 inside the RV and 111 outside...we stayed in the pool until sundown and the RV was a little cooler...Bill was at the point of almost heading home...after the pool cooldown, he was just fine and on to Rockhound State Park New Mexico the next day.....

...Balmorhea State Park Texas June 2010

...a refreshing Texas oasis...

...when we arrived at Balmorhea State Park, our thermometer said 107...it was HOT...at least the air was dry which made it a little nicer than central Texas but not much...OMG that hot air was something I've never experienced before...we both wondered what all the fuss was about Balmorhea...after setting up camp we took a walk...we soon found out what the "fuss" was about...a huge spring fed pool with huge catfish, turtles, minnows and two endangered fish swimming around...the temperature of the water stays at mid seventies so you can swim year round...the pool also feeds canals that run thru the town to irrigate the fields...it was beautiful...the next day we took a drive to Lake Balmorhea, which looked very much like a third world country and into the town of Fort Davis and toured the Fort which was famous for the Buffalo Soldiers, a term used to refer to the black calvalry troopers in the 1870s...the fort had a restored commissary,officers quarters,enlisted quarters and the hospital...very interesting...the ride to Fort Davis was thru the Davis Mountains...beautiful rock formations...I never knew Texas had anything like that...very different from the Rockies but beautiful in its own way...after we returned from our trip we took a short dip in the pool...very refreshing...just the perfect thing to cool off after a day in the heat...the next day was the McDonald Observatory.....

...and the adventure begins...

...arrived at San Angelo State Park on Tuesday...the campground was empty so we had the place to ourselves...beautiful spot under some tall pecan trees...we had rain, thunder, and lightning all nite the first nite...by morning it was gone and we had a beautiful day to explore San Angelo...it really is a cute little town...we first went to the Visitor Center that was on the Concho River...beautiful...then we had lunch at Miss Hattie's, a famous bordello in its day...the interior was a museum and looked like back in the day....after lunch we walked over to Eggmeyer's General Store...OMG...they had a little bit of everything...it has been featured in Texas Highways and I can see why...we also walked down the street to the jewlry store and learned everything there was to learn about the Concho River Pearls...yes, from mussels found in the river...they were pinkish in color...very pretty...later, we took a driving tour of Fort Concho and then out to the BX on Goodfellow AFB...we can't miss an AFB if there is one around...as we came out of the BX a storm had blown up and hail was on its way so we headed back to the park....luckily, the storm had passed and we had an uneventful nite....left around mid morning for Balmorhea State Park....