Santa Fe & Chimayo

Sunday, October 12

What a wonderful day this turned out to be. In the morning we drove to Santa Fe. Stopped at Target to buy Carol some warmer pants. In the Girls section we found padded & insulated ski pants. A Girls XL fits Carol just fine. We’re ready for anything now!! Then to Albertsons & Wal-Mart. After shopping we went to Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe church. What a beautiful, old church. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Patron Saint of Mexico. The Mass was at noon time. After church we drove to the Village of Chimayo to visit El Santuario de Chimayo, widely known as the Lourdes of America.. This church was built between 1813 and 1816, The Santo Nino Chapel was built in 1857. “Each year, thousands of visitors travel to Chimayo, an old Spanish village in the foothills of the Santo de Cristo Mountains. They come from all over the world….They come seeking healing or penance. They come hoping for a miracle.” One part of the Santuario contains an area called El Posito (Little Well). This is where the Crucifix was found in 1813 that lead to the building of El Santuario. “It is to the El Posito that the lame and the blind come, seeking miracles. The soil is believed to produce a mud that, when eaten or applied to the skin, has miraculous healing powers. The physically and spiritually injured come to be cured when all other treatments have failed. The walls are filled with crutches, braces and other mementos that the healed have left. “
I got some of the dirt for Carol. That evening she had me mix some of the dirt with her Holy Water that she brings whenever we travel, to make a mud. She rubbed the mud on her right arm and leg while she said her evening prayers.
About 5:oo we met our friends at the Orilla Verde Recreation Area Campground (Bureau of Land Management) near Pilar. It was just the three of us in the campground. Let Gopher off her leash. She really seemed to enjoy her freedom. It’s been her first run since we camped at Elephant Butte State Park. We all sat around a campfire talking and snacking until it got too cold. Driving here, we saw some snow on the peaks. Tonight it’s supposed to drop to about 40*.

Balloon Fest then moving on

Tuesday, Wednesday:

Each morning there was a Mass Ascension. On Tuesday , we went to town and did laundry. Frank & Cookie Kebelmen let us use their car. So much easier then taking the Lazy Daze. On Wednesday we walked to the balloon field about 7:30 to watch the preparation for the launch. John Leach had two 6 gallon water containers and he helped me add some water to the holding tank so we could both take long overdue showers. Later in the day, we drove to Costco’s with Cookie Kebelman and Linda Leach. Costco’s has a snack bar and sold churros. That’s fried dough about 1” thick and 12” long, then rolled in sugar and cinnamon. We first had a churro at the NM State Fair. Bought some frozen blueberries, pesto, endame and batteries at Costco’s. That evening we had another Pot Luck supper. We brought iced brownies and pepperoni bread. The food, as always, was excellent. After dinner we took a walk to the balloon field.

Thursday, Friday:

On Thursday, they had the Special Shapes launch in the morning. These are the balloons that are not your standard round ones. There must have be 50 very different & unique shaped balloons. Two friends of ours from the Northeast LD group were camping with the Escapee group. Ken & Bev Schultz.
In the evening we went to the Glowdeo. This is where the balloons are tethered and the propane burner ignited. Beautiful. The downside was the place was a mob scene of people. Stayed for a while then headed back to the campground. Watched the fireworks with our friends.
On Friday morning Mike Sylvester installed a surge protector in the LD. Shortly after noon, we picked up our mail at the PO, went grocery shopping and then drove to the Cochiti Lake Park; a COE facility. Our friends Frank & Cookie and John & Linda were there. For dinner I made jambalaya & corn bread. Linda made a salad.

Pot luck dinners & friends

From the Balloon Fest

Final balloon photos

Even more balloon pictures

More balloon pictures

Balloon Fest One

On Friday, after the breakfast, we drove to ABQ. Got gas, went grocery shopping, and picked up a prescription at Wal-Mart. About 2:00 we went to the Balloon Fest. There are 30 LD’s here. There are more RV’s here then we have ever seen in one place. There must be a thousand at least. According to the newspaper, over one million people will attend at least one day of the Fest. It’s the largest collection of balloons in the world. There are 632 registered balloons.
On Friday there was a pot luck dinner. We made brownies. The only desert and a real hit. On Saturday morning, the first mass ascension took place at 7am. I was up by 6am. Carol watched the balloons out the back window while propped up in bed.  Quite a sight. Later in the morning we walked down to the launch field. The evening “glow” was cancelled because of rain & wind. If it’s too windy it’s not safe for the balloons. A “glow” is when a balloon is tethered to the ground but ignites the propane burner. The balloon glows in the dark. At 8:00 pm, there was a great fireworks show. We watched it out of our back window. Had a wonderful, unobstructed view. The insulated windows blocked out enough of the sound so Gopher wasn’t frightened as she is when she hears very loud noises.

Sunday: Rained almost all night. The field where the RV’s are parked is dirt. It’s an absolute quagmire in places. Our immediate area is OK. Mushy, but we can walk around. Other areas are impassable. A tow truck has been here most of the day pulling RV’s out of the mud. A friend let us borrow there car so we could go in town and do laundry. At 5:00 we had a pot luck supper in front of our parking space because it was one of the few dry places around. We walked down to the Glow around 6:00. There are dozens of food vendors, places selling souvenirs, and everything else you can imagine. There was a Spam booth giving away samples. We passed on that. Carol bought herself two long sleeve shirts. Watched the evening fireworks from the comfort of the camper. What an enjoyable time we both had.

Monday: The morning Mass Ascension was limited because of the wind. We went to the Balloon Museum then out to dinner with friends.