Month: October 2017

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A Day in the Life of a Retired Grandma

For the past week I’ve been at my daughter’s house. My granddaughter was hit by a car and had to have a skin graft on her foot. She spent two days at the hospital and she can’t walk so I’ve been helping out.

So, my days have been quite different from the normal traveling mode. I’m on grandma duty now. Here’s my schedule:

6:30 am – the kids are waking up. The 11-year-old gets himself ready for school. The 3-year-old wakes up hungry. And the patient, 6-years-old, needs to get to the bathroom. She’s been sleeping downstairs on the couch. It’s a 2 story house and, of course, the bathroom is upstairs.

7:00 a.m. – breakfast  Yogurt and cereal. The doctor says protein is the most important thing to eat to help the healing process. Meats and dairy products. Yum!

9:00 a.m. – shopping.  We’re almost out of TP and paper towels, so I volunteer.  She’s getting bored, so I also picked up some little arts and crafts kits. Oh, and a new winter coat for me.

10:00 a.m. – library. I remembered that when my kids were little they had activity bags for traveling or sick days. Unfortunately these have been discontinued, but…they now have bags of books. Each one is on a different subject and contains 8 books and a DVD. I got the one called “I Spy” with books of hidden pictures. She loves those.

11:00 I run to her school to get some homework. The teacher had all her classmates make get well cards. How wonderful! The school also gave her a book.

1:00 p.m.  computer time Games and news surfing

3:00 p.m.  reading with the patient  The I’Spy hidden pictures books are a big success.

4:00 p.m. laundry and supper

7:00 TV time for the rest of the night

10:00 early to bed

A far cry from roaming, but just as satisfying.

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Last Day at Balloon Fiesta and Trip Home

On our last day in Albuquerque we took some time to explore a bit. Found a city park along the Rio Grande which runs along the west side of the city. It has wonderful bike / walking trail.

     

The last thing we did at the Balloon Fiesta was attend the evening glow. It was all the special shapes balloons, the ones that are not just a regular balloon shape. Every few minutes the announcer would say “5-4-3-2-1 all burn!” And the balloon pilots would light up their burners and they glowed! And then there was fireworks.

                         

Then the next morning we finally said adios to New Mexico and began the 3 day drive home. The scenery is spectacular and changes constantly. Here’s a few shots.

                                       

So, good-by to the “Great Wide Open” for now.  I shall return.

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Balloons Day 3

Flight of the Nations Mass Ascension

Today started at 5:30 a.m. We went to the Fiesta Park before dawn. Saw some balloons glowing on the way. We parked and the event had trollies to take us from the parking lot to the gate.  Then we  went out onto the field.

     

I watched one balloon from roll out to lift off. It’s name is Bimbo, sponsored by a bakery called Rise and Shine.

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The rest of this post is pictures. No words can describe the thrill of seeing over 400 balloons rising to the sky.

                                

 

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Balloon Fiesta Day 2

This is what we saw when we walked out of the hotel this morning.

                 

The sky was filled.

Glorious!

My brother and I went to the International Balloon Museum.

It was fascinating. I learned all kinds of things about ballooning – from the origins in France to how they were used in both world wars, to various expeditions and round the world trips.

This is a jig saw puzzle done by a balloon pilot. It’s 14 x 5 feet!

Then this evening we decided to eat Tex Mex…because, Albuquerque. We chose Sadie’s and it was good.

More tomorrow.

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Balloon Fiesta Day 1

What an amazing event! Balloons are everywhere.

You can see them all over the city.

The Balloon Fiesta Park is a huge field, an area as big as 6 football fields.

It’s ringed with vendors of all sorts, food, merchandise, souvenirs, and more food. Lots of coffee booths because the days begin at 6:00 a.m. with a mass ascension. We didn’t make it there until later today. But we still saw a lot of balloons before they were deflated.

You never know who’s going to be around a corner.

The event is run by volunteers and they are some of the nicest I’ve run across. Friendly, helpful beyond normal service. They even flagged down a courtesy shuttle for us when we couldn’t find one.

We’re planning to see the mass ascension on Wednesday because it’s the Flight of the Nations featuring international teams. And maybe we’ll do some things around Albuquerque. I’ll keep you posted.

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UP, UP and Away!

“Up, up and awaaaaaayy…in my beautiful balloon…”

I’m headed west again to a “lofty” event; The Albuquerque, New Mexico Balloon Fiesta. I’m going with my brother and big sister. My sister is a HUGE hot air balloon fan and it’s always been on her bucket list. We’ve been talking about doing this trip ever since I decided to retire. So this year, we’re going. The three of us are great traveling companions. As I’ve discussed before, traveling is in our blood.

There are several things to do there besides watching balloons. We’re hoping to take ride in one. Also, there’s chainsaw sculpture demonstrations, music concerts, art shows, and exhibits about ballooning. And, oh yeah, casinos.

We’re driving out, so my next post will be in a few days.