Friday, February 21, 2014

SEDONA BALLOON PHOTO WRAP-UP

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ARIZONA SUNRISES & SUNSETS SELDOM NEED ENHANCEMENT, THEY JUST ARE WHAT THEY ARE

(Thursday’s post – internet connection problem)

I like my big sticks & bricks bed because I don’t need a ladder to get into it & I don’t have to wear a bungee cord around my ankle in case I fall out of it.

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THE BOYS ARE STILL DEFLATING THE BALLOON

Saw a series of bright flares in the night sky to the west last night when I was out with Pheebs.  Carefully scanned the stars in that area & sure enough two of them were moving.  Watched for a few minutes as they sometimes converged & separated.  The fact they had a consistent blinking to them told me they were probably aircraft from Luke Air Force Base about an hour’s drive south of Congress.  Two young fellas with a couple F-16 fighter jets strapped on practicing night maneuvers & dog fighting high above the darkened Arizona landscape.  Oh how I have often wished I would have had the smarts & self discipline to have pursued an exciting career like that.

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A SQUARE CART ON WHEELS IS WHEELED OUT TO PUT THAT BIG HUGE BALLOON IN AS THE ROLLING UP PROCESS BEGINS

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AS THE BALLOON IS BEING ROLLED UP DISASSEMBLY OF THE BASKET IS UNDERWAY

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FINALLY THE BALLOON IS ALL BAGGED & CRATED

So which pair of PJ’s did I decide to go with first?  Figure I will wear out my Jammie Bears first & keep my Camo Jams as back-up.  Always good for a feller to have a back-up set of Jams:))

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A LOOK INTO THE BASKET

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THE PROPANE BURNER IS REMOVED FROM THE BASKET

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Lots of dust on both the Jeep & Winnie the Bago from our Sedona romp but I’m not going to wash the rig because I just end up with a bunch of difficult to remove hard white water spots in tough to reach places.  A 70% chance of rain Saturday so I’ll let Mother Nature’s soft rains do the job for me.  I did surprise myself today by washing the Jeep though.

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BALLOON PASSENGERS WATCHING THE PROCEDURE & SOON SOME WOULD BE HELPING

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And a very belated but very Happy 90th Birthday to our good friend & fellow Jeep shotgun rider Carol formally of Arizona’s ‘Paws & Hooves’ & now a happy resident of California’s Placerville.  When are we going Jeeping again Carol?? 

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LOOKS LIKE THIS CREW MEMBER IS STRUGGLING UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THAT LARGE BACK PACK

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WHEELED BALLOON CRATE IS TIPPED BACK, TRAILER IS BACKED IN UNDER IT, CART IS TIPPED UP & WHEELED INTO THE TRAILER

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NEXT TO BE LOADED UP IS THE BASKET & THIS IS WHERE THE PASSENGER HELP COMES IN

Tanks dumped, oil levels checked, etc & that was about it for me this morning.  Too windy to paint the shed doors so the afternoon just morphed into something along the lines of quiet relaxation.  Nothing too exciting to write about & my cameras remained hanging on the wall enjoying a welcome break.

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A FEW MALE BALLOON PASSENGERS ON THE END READY TO TIP BACK THE BASKET

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‘OOOOOOPH’

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SUCCESS:))

Deciding on an RV lifestyle is a major decision for anyone.  It can be & often is life changing.  Some decisions can begin with a spur of the moment thought while others are years in the dreaming & planning stages.  Some folks just hunker down & go for it while others can be unsure & indecisive for a long time.  Like I said, it is a life changing decision in more ways than one.  Kelly & I started out as week-enders like most folks.  That progressed to a couple week long trips & of course we were hooked.  Then came the hard part, deciding on what we wanted to do.  RVing for sure but what kind of RVing?  Snow Birds?  Full Timers?  Decisions, decisions, decisions.  We waffled back & forth on the Full Time idea for about 3 years before finally understanding the fact it would probably be better ‘for us’ to stay with the Snow Bird lifestyle.  Once we accepted that understanding our lives became easier & we no longer spent time on trying to figure out how we could travel Full Time.  Steve over at  HOUNDS & RV'S has been wrestling with these very decisions for quite some time now & may have finally come to a final decision.  Might want to click the blue link & see what he has decided & what he had to do to reach the decision he has reached.  I did leave in part the following comment on Steve’s post……“The RVing bug bit us good back in 04 & I was pushing for going full time by 2008.  We even kinda put our house up for sale for a month at one point & had 4 different couples come through.  However, Kelly was a little more cautious than I.  The financial melt down in 08 rocked us back on our heals & eventually we both agreed it was best that we just continue as Snow Birds. In the end we just didn't feel comfortable selling everything we owned to hit the road & travel full time.   We have no idea if the full time life would have worked well or not but we do know the Snow Bird lifestyle has & that has been the right decision ‘for us’. With the addition of our little house in Congress Az. we do truly have the best of both worlds……….

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OF COURSE PHEEBS IS RIGHT IN THERE CHEERING THE CREW  ALONG

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THE BALLOON CREW WITH THEIR BALLOON & LOAD OF PASSENGERS HEAD FOR SEDONA

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BYE GUYS & THANKS FOR THE PHOTO OP:))  RED ROCK BALLOONS

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THEY SOON DISAPPEARED IN A GREAT CLOUD OF DUST………..

I was surprised today when I realized there were only 8 days left in the month of February.  Guess there’s some truth in that saying, ‘time fly’s when your having fun’.  And any time not spent in a cold bitter snow infested northern winter has to be constituted as some kinda fun.  Of course we all have our own personal takes on what fun is don’t we.   What really hit home is how fast our winter is slipping by.  In just a month from now we will be bearing down on some homeward plans.  Just when & which route we will take this year is something we will begin talking about next month at this time.

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GROANER’S CORNER:(( A photographer for a national magazine was assigned to take pictures of a great forest fire. He was advised that a small plane would be waiting to fly him over the fire.
The photographer arrived at the airstrip just an hour
before sundown. Sure enough, a small Cessna airplane was waiting. He jumped in with his equipment and shouted, "Let's go!"
The tense man sitting in the pilot's seat swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air,
though flying erratically. "Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "and make several low-level passes."
"Why?" asked the nervous pilot.
"Because I'm going to take pictures!" yelled the photographer. "I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures."
The pilot replied, "You mean you're not the flight instructor?"

15 comments:

  1. February did seem to go by quite quickly. I don't really mind though, since I seem to always find myself in a climate where it can be a little dreary.
    Of course, half the time when we were living in Puerto Rico, we never knew what the heck month it was, since every day was mostly the same. Confusing for a Gringo.

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  2. Our February has been the hottest here that I can remember in 40 years. It has NEVER been in the 90's here in February before this year! Gosh, yes, it HAS gone quickly! I can't believe you guys only have a few more weeks here.
    ~Cheryl Ann~

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  3. I understand the wanderlust feeling. I still think I could do this full time, with a stop to see family every so often..but Dennis is NOT in favor of it. Also know that this fiver is lots of work to set up and tear down...Lots of decisions coming up.

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  4. The fullltime bug got us in 2006 and we have not looked back. Works for us and some day we will have to hang up the keys reluctantly, hopefully not for a long time yet.
    Still have a problem staying in one place for much more than a week.
    After our week here we will begin a wandering path back to Ontario only 8 weeks to get there.

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  5. HAH! I was wondering just this morning (before your post was published) which jammies you decided to use first.

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  6. Those are some beautiful Arizona skies you photographed!

    Neat how the balloon is stowed....and of course Pheebs would be cheering them on, she's such a sweet girl!

    Our decision to full time just evolved when we were out for an adventure and just didn't want to go back to the sticks and bricks! So far so good!

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  7. Al, if you don't mind, could you post a link to where I can buy some jammies like yours? :))

    Love the balloon photos. Have watched from a distance a number of times, but it's way better close up.

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  8. The shortness of the month is about the only thing I liked about February when we lived in Wisconsin. Here it really doesn't mater. Time has beeb dragging as we wait ti take the next step in our lives.

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  9. Sure is a lot of work to get everything put away after a balloon trip. And I thought putting the motorhome to bed was work haha!!

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  10. Packing up that balloon looks like way too much work to make ballooning a fun sport! Yikes!

    Ballooning sure doesn't "float" my boat... ;c)

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  11. Soon, Dolly and I will need to evaluate what next winter holds for us. Even after two months in the southwest, I still don't know if this temporary lifestyle is for her.

    I know, I love it. Next winter may hold some hard decisions for us. But for now, we will just enjoy the remainder of the time we have left for this winter and let the future take care of itself.

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  12. I don't know al. Right now, it seems that we no sooner start one month and va va boom, its the end of the month. We all must be having too much fun.

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  13. Lucky Carol - I lived in Placerville twice, and loved it both times. Always wanted to retire there.

    Beautiful photos, as usual.

    As soon as I learned about fulltiming, my plan was made. Within a year or so, I was retired and on the road. I didn't take any preliminary trips or try out rentals - I found The Palms, drove it around La Mesa RV's parking lot and bought it on the spot. A month later I left for good. I've never looked back and never regretted my decision. :)

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  14. I've really enjoyed this up close and personal hot air balloon series Al thanks a lot. Don't know if I'll ever get to ride in one or get that close so I really appreciate it.

    You are going to give us a picture of you modeling the jammies aren't you? I like the bears best.

    I got sick sick sick of the job, the econony went to hell, I said who cares, decided I wanted to see all of the NWRs (before I realized just HOW many there were), went out and found Winnona having never been in an RV and hit the road less than 6 months later. I just jumped off the deep end and haven't regretted it for one second. I hope I never have to go back to a stationary home. I love it out here.

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  15. Great pictures of the balloon and the process of getting it stowed and ready for travel. They couldn't have done it without "the Pheebs".

    Thanks for your comment on my blog post. I have noticed the lack of non stop decision making brain activity once I decided what I was going to do. I'm backed to being relaxed. I too will start out as a weekender and a 2 week trip sometime this summer. That will give me a good idea how I feel about camping with 200lbs worth of hounds.

    2008 also hit me economically ... went from self employed with an online business back to a job.

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