Wordless Wednesday – Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

 

Quick Update

Riley and I are in Albuquerque after a GREAT time with the Ladeze (the Lazy Daze ladies) up near Taos.  We came to ABQ for an appointment at Statkus Engines.  It’s time for some 60,000 mile service on my RV and Statkus is a very respected shop.  They did a front end alignment for me last year after Balloon Fiesta and wrote up a quote for a bunch of 60k stuff, so am back and getting it done.  Plus, I had a list of other things to check/replace/flush, etc.  It’s so much work that it’s taken all day today, and will continue tomorrow.  I said ‘I am living in it’ and they let me stay the night where they were working on it.  So, here I am, on the lift where they finished at 5:00.  At least it’s down on the ground!

My Lazy Daze friend Kathy was here today getting work done, too.  Last night we had dinner in Old Town with Lisa, another Ladeze attendee.

Lisa and Kathy on the way to dinner at Church Street Cafe

Today Kathy and I toured around the Old Town Plaza and shops while killing time waiting for our RV repairs.

We will be in Albuquerque through the Balloon Fiesta (Oct 4th-12th).  I have been organizing the Lazy Daze group at the Fiesta, so we will get there early and stay to the end.  Hope to get some blogging done between now and the end of the month.  I have lots of pictures to sort through from Santa Fe and Ladeze.  More later….

By the way, I know I am severely lacking in pictures of Riley lately.  So, here’s one from earlier this month, on a morning hike in the hills behind Iska’s place in Santa Fe.

Storrie Time

Well, our time at Storrie Lake State Park is about to end.  We have pretty much spent the summer here.  The weather has been really great, plus it’s close to town and has good Verizon signal.  I don’t watch a lot of TV, but there is good broadcast TV signal here, too.  Several of my friends have spent time here (Barbara, Roxanne, Annie, Nancy, Lorna, Ryan), and I’ve met some new folks (John, Jan, Renee, Patty, Brad, Dave).  And Riley got to make some new friends, too.

The weather is a big factor.  Here is the August weather in Las Vegas this year.  Highs in the 70’s and low 80’s, lows in the 50’s.  I’ll take it.

And here is Austin in August 2011, the last time I spent August there. (We’ve been on the road since 8/2/12.) Thirty five years of this is enough.  No more.

Austin Weather

They have a Carnegie Library here, and I was able to get a temporary library card, so that was nice.  It’s a pretty place, sits on a whole block.  The homes surrounding the library block are being restored.

Carnegie Library

Library Square Houses

Renovation of a house on the corner across from the library into a gingerbread cottage.

Las Vegas has a nice plaza, with the historic Plaza Hotel on one corner.  Threadbear is a quilt and yarn shop I visited a few times.  It’s just across the street from the Plaza Hotel.  There is a farmer’s market here on Saturday mornings, plus other major events like the Rough Riders biker rally in July.

Plaza

We did a LOT of dog walking together.  We’d often do two-a-days.  Katie has a bad ankle and can only walk a short distance, then rides in the doggie stroller.

Riley walking with his friends Jake and Katie.  (And my friends Annie and Barbara.)

Awww, she’s so cute.

I did a bunch of weaving on my new inkle loom.  I REALLY love making bands on it.  I have made a few things for my friends (belts, a dog leash, a camera strap) and have just finished some dog collars.  Probably will work up some stuff for my Etsy shop.

Dog Collars

On hot days (about 95 was the hottest in July) I took the inkle loom out to our shade structure.  Riley loves hanging out there and I would visit with John and/or Barbara.

So, we are about to head out of here tomorrow (9/3) and go to Santa Fe.  Iska and Larry are going on a trip and I get to house/pet sit.  Yay!  It will be good to visit with them a bit, and I love staying out there.  On the 18th we go up to Taos for a Lazy Daze ladies (Ladeze) gathering.  Then to Albuquerque for some Ford scheduled maintenance and the Balloon Fiesta.  Lots of fun times with good friends planned.

A couple more Storrie views:

We moved to the far north end, by the dam and boat ramp, before the Labor Day weekend.  Nice view from there.  Moved back to the loop on Sunday.  It’s better (nicer, quieter) here.

Another lovely day.  I will miss this.

[By the way – the dump station here is broken and closed.  They will not have it fixed this season.  We have been going to the RV park across from the Walmart since the end of July.  They charge $5.00 and just have you pull into an empty site to use the sewer connection.  FYI for anyone planning a visit.]

Catching Up

I’m always behind in my blogging.  I need to catch up.  We are back at Storrie Lake State Park in Las Vegas, after spending a week at Iska’s in Santa Fe again.  So, briefly, here are some shots of the past 3-4 weeks or so.

Here is one reason I haven’t blogged lately – my new toy.  An inkle loom I found in Santa Fe when we were at Iska’s the first time.  It makes bands: belts, straps, trim, etc.

Inkle Loom and book, with my first project warped, ready to start weaving.

Weaving my first inkle band

I have made several bands and am getting better at it.  It’s a nice, small loom.  Easy to weave in my RV, or take outside and use it on the table in my shelter.  Just finished weaving a band with Rasta colors today.  Still need to finish the ends and get a couple of D-rings to make a belt.

Rasta Belt

Anyway, we’ve been camping with the gals again lately:

Barbara and Katie

Annie and Jake

We had a nice 4th of July cookout with John, our camphost and friend:

July 4th Cookout

John took a picture of us gals one day when we were out walking the dogs and he was out taking pictures of some baby birds.

Me, Annie and Barbara with Riley, Jake and Katie

We were all parked together in a row. A nice neighborhood:

From left – Barbara, Me, John, and Annie

After 2 weeks at Storrie, Riley and I headed up to Heron Lake.  The plan was to bounce between Heron Lake and El Vado Lake for a month or two.  We had to pass through Santa Fe, so stopped for a week with Iska and Larry.  We caught another couple of bands at the Plaza – The Rifters and Ballroom Thieves.

The Rifters playing at the Santa Fe Bandstand.

Folks enjoying the Santa Fe Plaza concert

Sunset at Iska’s

Plans changed when Barbara went up to Heron Lake and found out the Verizon tower up there was out, due to a storm.  She came back to Las Vegas, and Annie and I decided to do the same.  We ran into Ryan here, who Riley and I saw at Quartzsite and Yuma in Jan./Feb. last year.

New Age Nomad Ryan

Ryan has been out to Heron and El Vado (when the Verizon was working), and more recently, Coyote Creek State Park.  We picked his brain on how the Verizon is up there.  Sounds like it’s workable (plus the campground has wifi), so Riley and I will probably try Coyote Creek once our stay is up here at Storrie.

Nancy is here, and Renee, who we met here a couple of weeks ago.   Annie got back here just after Riley and I pulled in on Wednesday.  Then Roxanne drove up after getting her new cast in Las Cruces.  Annie and Roxi and I are sharing a site (it’s been great!), but plan to spread out when 2 electric sites open up tomorrow.  Barbara got back on Thursday.  She and Nancy are sharing the site next to us until Nancy heads out in a couple of days.  And we met Paula, but she left today.  We have all been hanging out and walking dogs. We had a happy hour the other day and grilled together yesterday.  Life is good.  🙂

New Mexico Sunset (with Roxanne and Annie)

All caught up.  Yay!

More from Santa Fe

After Hyde Memorial State Park we moved to Iska’s place, just outside Santa Fe. She and her boyfriend Larry have a lovely adobe home in the country there, with room for Riley and I to park for a few days.

Parked at Iska’s place

It was so nice there.  Iska has a big corral with a garden in half of it and also keeps bees in the other half.  I really enjoyed learning about what she was growing and why.  Plus, what it takes to be a beekeeper.

The garden  (Early morning, facing east, not a good exposure.  Oh, well…)

One of her friends, Kate, that tends the bees and garden with her was there, checking on everything.  She was an expert guest on the Albuquerque NPR station for a show about bees a couple of days earlier.  I was able to pull it up online and listen.  It’s interesting what a cooperative community a beehive is.

The Bee Side

This gives the bees a handy water source.  (Can you tell there is water here?  Kate had just filled it up with water, over the rocks.)  It’s a bee-bath!

Iska and I enjoy some of the same activities.  Like making salves and lotions.  We exchanged little pots of concoctions like kids just back from the candy store.  Also, she showed me how to make pesto with garlic scapes from her garden, and I picked mint leaves then dried them to make mint tea.  Always nice to learn new ideas and recipes.

It was a bit hot in Santa Fe (and in my RV), getting up to the low 90’s.  But, the house was always nice and cool.  Even without air conditioning.  The adobe construction keeps it at a very nice temp.  And the east facing porch was a great spot (with a bit of a breeze) to sit and read.  Especially when I was doing my laundry.  How great was that?  I got to do laundry in nice machines in a house, not at the laundromat.  Thanks Iska!  What a treat!

Santa Fe has lots of cool things going on in the summer, including a free concert series at the Plaza.  We went down to the Plaza to hear The Wheeler Brothers, an Austin band.  I hadn’t heard of them, but really enjoyed the music.

Wheeler Brothers at the Santa Fe Bandstand

Me with Iska and Larry at the Santa Fe Plaza

Iska and Larry like to dance, and they had lots of opportunity with this band.

They have free concerts at the Bandstand almost every night throughout the summer.  Maybe we will catch another concert.  I’m heading back to Iska’s tomorrow, after leaving Storrie Lake State Park, where Riley and I have been for the last 2 weeks.  We have been here with Barbara and Annie.  They have been better bloggers than me, and have posted more regularly.  I will try to catch up here in the next few days.  I’m really looking forward to spending more time with Iska and Larry.  I had just the best time with them when we were there!