One From the Bucket List

With our truck still in the shop, Sunday, we drove the car 120 miles to Albuquerque for church. We were fortunate to find Grace LCMS.

After church we visited the Anderson Abbuzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. This museum documents the history of ballooning as well as the Annual Albuquerque Balloon Festival held each October.


This beautiful building is designed to look like a hot air balloon laying on its side. The museum contains many interesting artifacts from balloon history.

We spent the night at a hotel and woke very early to arrive at the launch pad by 6:00 a.m. The sun was just beginning to shine over the mountains as the crew unloaded the equipment.

We helped lay out the 70 foot tall balloon. Large gas powered fans were used to pump air into the envelope.

After the balloon envelope was fully expanded, the propane burners were fired to give the balloon lift.

Ready to go!

Lift Off!

Floating over the Rio Grande River

Flying in the trees

At the end of the trip, we all helped put away the toys. We had a hard time imagining how this large slightly inflated envelope was going to fit into the small bag. Sitting on it helped.

This was a wonderful experience and the memories will last a long time. They say that the balloon trip is free, you pay for a safe landing.

Unexpected Adventure in Santa Rosa, NM

Not a sight we ever wanted to see!

Saturday, we were driving west on I-40. About 100 miles east of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Virginia who was driving behind in the Yaris, smelled something burning. Luckily a Rest Area was just ahead, so we pulled in to check things out. Suspecting nothing, Kurt popped the hood on the truck. What a shock to find the engine on fire. He immediately turned the truck off and the wind then quickly blew the fire out. We are safe in a campground in Santa Rosa while our truck is at a Ford Dealer in Albuquerque.

Five diesel mechanics could not find a cause for the fire. We are awaiting the insurance estimator's arrival. We anticipate being stranded in Santa Rosa for another week or so, but are taking one day at a time.

We are very thankful that we have our little car to drive. This small town doesn't have any cars to rent. We have found a few things to keep us busy while we are here, so we will make the best of it and will continue our journey as soon as possible.