On the Road to Albuquerque

From the RV MAPS Convention in Carlinville, IL, we made our trek to Albuquerque.  An item on my bucket list is to see the Hot Air Balloon Festival there. 

We pulled into the Kirtland AFB FamCamp late Sunday afternoon and dry camped for one night.  We were able to move into a full hook-up site the next morning.

On Tuesday, we went to the Recreation Center to purchase tickets to the festival and we also purchased tickets to ride on the van to the festival.  We had to get up really early on Wednesday to catch the van but it was well worth it.  The festival has two sessions, one in the early morning hours to around 11:30, and the evening glow session. 

The early morning Dawn Patrol was beautiful.

After the sun came up the other balloons began to inflate.  I loved all the balloons but the special shaped balloons were amazing.

There were around 550 balloons, I read, that were here this year.  On Friday we went back and the balloons just hung in the air around the field.  There was not much wind that day.  The skies were beautiful filled with colorful balloons.

The evening glows were beautiful as well.

And who can forget Steve, the pin guy.

Playing Catch-up. July-August-September-October

It's hard to play catchup on our travels but here goes a few highlights.

After we left S & L. (See previous blog), we traveled north. 

Our further travels north took us to Waterloo, Iowa. Because of the holiday and bad weather we stayed at George Wyth Mem. St Park. Nice park. We also toured the John Deere Museum. 

On our way north, we stopped at The Mall of America....well....I can say I've been there. 

I wanted to see Lake Superior, so we traveled to Grand Portage, MN to start our tour down the coast line of Lake Superior.  We visited Grand Marias, Two Harbors and the little villages between there and Duluth. I have a lot of pictures but won't and can't post them here. Fun trip. 

Split Rock cruise. 

Duluth cruise. 

I loved looking for beach glass. Two harbors was a good place for glass. 

 We enjoyed our boat cruises. Apostle Islands. 

We did so much...  cruises on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan/Lake Huron. We enjoyed walks along the beach, waterfalls, and sunsets. We visited Madeline Island and MackinawIsland .  Toured the Quincy Copper mine. It was an amazing trip. Would love to do it again. 

One of our favorite parks was the township park in L'Ance, MI. Good glassing spot too. 

Month of June 2017

We had a lovely visit with family, Sidney and Laurence Pitt, in Nauvoo, IL.  Even though they had a lot of work to be done on their house, they showed us a good time visiting the historic town of Nauvoo. We all enjoyed the Family Life Center and other historical sites around town. 

 

Baking bread

 

Bread proofer. They would put the bowl of dough in the proofer with a bowl of 

warm water to rise the bread. 

 

Wagon wheel weaving. The pioneers made beautiful round rugs with strips of cloth.

  

Triangle frame to weave shawls. 

 

 

Weaver showed us how to join the wool for the spinning wheel. 

 

We even learned how the wood barrels were made and also learned that if your name 

is Cooper, then your ancestors were probably barrel crafters. 

 

These were just a few crafters in the Family Life Center. We also learned the process of candle 

making and rope making. 

One thing I didn't know was that the tin lantern punched designs represented a family design so 

that the family could be identified when strolling in the evening. 

 

We took a wagon ride. 

 

 

We had a fun and informative day. 

While the men remolded Sidney's kitchen, us gals went looking for beach glass.

Sidney is an expert at finding glass and  I have a new passion. Thanks Sidney!

 

 

 

The third week in June, we all went to Butler, Mo for a family reunion. 

 

This is Glenn's brother and sisters along with Sidney and I with Aunt Ada. Aunt Ada 

is the only surviving sister of eight. Glenn's mother was one of the eight. Aunt Ada and 

her husband were Assemblies of God ministers. 

Glenn had been sick the second week visiting Laurence and Sidney and not much work was 

done.  We both felt we owed them another week. They accomplished as much as they could;

laying floors  and putting up cabinets. I'll be anxious to see it finished and I know Sidney will too.

Before we left, we took another day from construction to visit a unique Windmill. 

 

The "Prairie Mill" in Golden, IL.  Built in 1873 by Henry Emminga.

 

 

It has three millstones depending on how fine the grain was desired. 

 

 

We walked out on this deck. Cool experience. 

 

This home is for sale and is across from the windmill. Henry Emminga built it for his daughter. 

His daughter never married. 

Thank you Sidney and Laurence for a wonderful visit.