Alburqueque NM

Arrived and parked by 11am in a large lot of 150 Airstreams from many clubs. Luckily we are in the second row which is perfect to access the mass ascension of 600 hot air balloons at dawn tomorrow. No services, no water or electricity so on battery power for five days with a little help from Henry the Honda generator. Henry is absolutely necessary to activate Tommy the Toaster and Eric the Espresso! Great weather so no cold nights!

Spanish influence....

Photography is forbidden inside and outside the San Estevan del Rey mission at Sky City Acoma. There is a simple reason - the Acoma Pueblo culture authorities do not want visitors to leave with their best photos of the mission sanctuary showing up the contrast between the beautiful style and design of the Spanish invaders compared to the uninspired development of the pueblo township over a thousand years. So many Pueblo Indians died at the hands of the Spanish or were forced to convert to Christianity and that still leaves a lingering black episode in their culture!

Rainbow at Acoma!

Pots of gold - as it coincidentally happens is also the Indian reservation casino - for Bob's rig on the left and for our rig on the right at the Sky City of Acoma in New Mexico tonight....

Petroglyphs in Canyon de Chelly AZ

El Morro NM

Spanish were traveling in New Mexico and fighting the Indians some two hundred years before the Anglos appeared! A couple of inscriptions (aka early graffiti!) from the El Morro National Monument....

Here was the General Don diego de Vargas, who conquered for our Holy Faith, and for the Royal Crown, all of New Mexico at his own expense, year of 1692.

On the 25th of the month of June, of this year of 1709, passed by here on the way to Zuni - Ramon Garcia Jurado.

Ubiquitous Route 66

Although it no longer exists as a true highway, Historic Route 66 gets designated in many sections of the 2,448 miles from Santa Monica CA to Chicago IL... We picked up the route in Gallup NM and headed east to Albuquerque where some of the highway was replaced by I-40. A lot of politics and negotiation starring with Route 66 creation in the 1930's until it's decommissioning in the 80's and now it's revival as Historic Route 66!

Richardson's Trading Post

We were privileged to have a owner led tour of the trading post and view the saddles, dresses and costumes, jewelry, belts, rugs and other artifacts that the local Navajo entrust to Richardsons for safe keeping, bringing in their valuables and pawning them until future redemption for a nominal fee. Apparently neighborly theft is very much a Navajo tribal issue and this is the preferred way to store family valuables and treasures. Apart from pawn not for sale the trading post has an extensive collection of "dead pawn" (i.e. did not pay off their debt) jewelry, turquoise, belts, rugs, saddles and rugs that are for sale! Well worth checking out!

Up Up and Away!

We were absolutely the luckiest balloonist this weekend at Gallup! The weather was perfect for launch with 2 to 3 knots westerly breeze and we were fortunate to be in the Bill Lee's basket with his brand new Spirit of New Mexico ballon - the black balloon with the Day of the Dead logo! - Bill is the leader of the balloonist pilots for the area. We travelled up the canyon walls doing a deliberate ceremonious bump of the basket on one of the rock outcrops and eventually landed a couple of miles away in Navajo tribal territory village. What a wonderful way to spend the morning - we did get up at 5 am and dress for below freezing temperatures which fortunately moved swiftly up to the 50's by mid morning.

Chaco Canyon

Sad to see ruins of a once great civilization just vanish possibly due to living in a unsustainable environment - five decade drought? You would think they would develop the ability to adapt and move to a fertile and watered area such as north to the San Juan River in Farmington? The architecture evolved over several centuries with influences from the Mexican or even further South American but their art remained basic and there appeared to be no written communication which is a necessity for a community to develop and grow. While other cultures worldwide progressed this one shriveled up and died.

It's the thing to do!

I don't think you can do this anywhere else in the world where you can stand at the junction of four states or countries at once. Margaret is in Utah and New Mexico and I'm in Arizona and Colorado! With enough state and federal law conflicts we could be in a real quandary very soon!

Down the Colorado River!

Under the shadow of the Glen Canyon dam our group split up and boarded three inflatables and drifted, with occasional power adjustments, down the Colorado River until we reached Horseshoe Bend (see separate post) and then turnarounded and powered back up the canyon river with 1000 ft walls on either side! Another beautiful nature awe inspiring journey!

Horseshoe Bend

Two perspectives, one from the river and one from the rim of the canyon taken over two days and shows the 270 degree Colorado River turn as it cuts its way down through the sandstone over 1000 ft about 5 miles downriver from the Glen Canyon dam.

Lower Antelope Canyon

After our previous successful day in Upper Antelope Canyon we decided to take the Lower Canyon tour and we're thrilled by the many magic moments as the lights descended through the narrow crevice and hit the sandstone walls a hundred feet below. This was a photographer paradise with so many effects and just moving the camera a few inches made dramatic differences in effect. All photos taken with iPhone 6 using Chrome filter and thank goodness for being able to preview every shot unlike my DSLR!

Inside Lower Antelope Canyon!

This canyon is narrow at the top and wider at trail level and depending on season and time of day light beams shine down for a few minutes before the earth's rotation cuts them off. Floods pass through and continue to erode the walls. Our SWAD team benefits from Navajo guide Ryan high photo skills on all camera platforms!

Inside Lower Antelope Canyon!

This canyon is narrow at the top and wider at trail level and depending on season and time of day light beams shine down for a few minutes before the earth's rotation cuts them off. Floods pass through and continue to erode the walls. Our SWAD team benefits from Navajo guide Ryan high photo skills on all camera platforms!

Glen Canyon panorama

Too big to capture in one shot so iPhone Pano features help bring it into perspective. First shot from dam tour and second from visitor center. Water level is 80 ft below max so large bathtub ting around Lake Powell!

The big hole again

Bob, Lisa, and the two of us on the edge of the Grand Canyon chasm! Perfect weather has blessed us at each stop and travel days have been either rain or overcast! Way to go....

Antelope Canyon by water

Lake Powell is at the lowest water level since it was initially filled in the 1960's and is some 80 ft below the full pool level in the 90's. These unprecedented levels allow boat access to some spectacular Navajo and Antelope canyon scenery that would normally be underwater!

A big hole in the ground

This is my third visit and it remains totally impressive with a 5,000 foot drop to the Colorado River and some 10 miles across to the South Rim. Due to its relative inaccessibility the North Rim is not swarming with tourists and with its log cabin construction has a elegant early era pioneer destination feel about it....

Grand Canyon Lodge

Two evenings back to back dining at the North Rim Lodge were a special treat of Canyon Duck with prickly cactus sauce and the next evening classic prime rib. The huge cavernous hall overlooking Grand Canyon with sunset light was impressive!

Sierra Nevada beer overlooking Grand Canyon

The ladies did the hike to Bright Angel Point while the men relaxed and enjoyed a cool beer overlooking the Grand Canyon from the North Rim Lodge!

Crossing the Colorado

From the old bridge built in 1929 and now a pedestrian only walkway you can admire the Colorado River 470 ft below which has very little water flow and the condors breeding under the new 1995 road bridge!

Condors

As an endangered species they started off with a fragile flock of 20 birds and now have reached over 70... each bird is tagged and #30 and #F1 swooped around the steel trusses of the Navajo Bridge across the Colorado River at Marble Canyon.

Honda Lifeboat

Two nights boondocking at the Grand Canyon North Rim brings out the survival instinct! No campsite power! Bring out the Honda generator and plug in! Recharges the Airstream batteries which are in poor condition and don't do well overnight - also allows for quick burst of the toaster and the espresso coffee machine - priorities! Hours of generator operation are restricted to 6 to 8 pm and 8 to 10 am. To help battery longevity we tracked down and switched off 12 volt stealth usage such as fridge fans and sub-woofer amplifier!

Almond pie

Despite cramped conditions and limited resources Margaret baked two almond pies with quinoa crusts for the pie party evening! Lots of rolling of quinoa dough between cling film and hot oven in an already hot camper! Smells great! Great with ice cream!

Two photographers

Using all our skills and resources, Bob on iPhone and Olympus, me on iPhone and Nikon! Learnt a lot from Bob Martel about photography, Airstream, and just life!