April 15, 2004 - Peoria, AZ

Happy Tax Day!  Well, maybe not. 

Hey!  We've got a new grandchild!  Huck Brennan Jenkins joined the family around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 10th.  Son Doug had been picking up a car in Virginia, and got home about 6:45 PM.  Kerry had a contraction about 7 PM, and Huck made his appearance a half hour later, born at home as planned.  Whoopee!  A little embarrassing, knowing that we've only seen half our grandchildren!  Alexandria was born in July in Sacramento, and we'll see her for the first time later this month.....at last.  No telling when we'll make it back to St. Louis, but you can bet we're looking forward to it.  He's the first grandson.

Meantime, back at the....... well, wherever we were.

Oh, yeah.  The FMCA rally.  Only it's not really started yet.  We're at the Balloon Fiesta Park and there is some activity fitting for a place with that name.  These guys were doing some advertising for rides, and it was fun to watch the inflation process.

One of the hardest working guys was this fellow with the rope that was tied to the top of the balloon as it was inflated.  Not sure what he was accomplishing, but it must have been important.

When the pilot pulls the trigger on these propane burners, you know there's some hot air being made.  The noise is distinctive and can be heard a mile or so away at times.

Barb and the crew, and a truck with another balloon coming to do the same thing.  The whole thing is in the back of the truck.  At the rear you can see the gasoline powered blower that starts the whole process by blowing air (not hot) into the balloon to help it take shape.  Then the flame is started a bit at a time.  Got to avoid that flame from hitting the nylon, don't you know.

All kinds of things going on for a Sunday morning.  This furry little girl almost always had her leash in her mouth whenever she was being walked.  And then, much to our pleasant surprise, the Motorclub owns its own hymnals for times like this.

We knew there would be a "church" service alongside the service motorhome, but when they unfolded the pulpit, handed out the hymnals, and assembled the choir, we were more than a little pleased.  And there's the group that attended the service.  What fun!  How blessed we felt.  Music was familiar, and the sermon was Biblical and to the point.

Needless to say, we found our way to the petroglyphs at the Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque.  This is a sacred land to American Indians and depicts stories passed on from one generation to the next.  Friends Dean and Bettye Kennedy had suggested we make the effort, and Dean had sent some pictures.  Since Jimmy and Linda were willing to go along with us, we drove the 20 or so miles and did a little sightseeing.

Can't remember for sure, but I think the guy on the left was one of the pictures Dean had sent to us.  And Jimmy and Linda stopped long enough on the way up to let us get a shot of them and the distance we'd come.  Must have gotten used to the altitude, as I did very little huffing and puffing on this modest climb.

I seem to have this compulsion to take pictures of our Jeep whenever we attain a summit.  Also, I've noticed the same compulsion seems to take over whenever I have a camera in my hand and somebody is taking our picture, I want to take their picture as they're taking ours.  Jim was kind enough to take this picture so we could see some of the surrounding area from the summit of this little hill.  Linda was a little sorry she'd chosen to wear black, as the day warmed up a bit, but we didn't stay long.

Some of the drawings (carvings?) were easier than others to see what the artist was after.  The figures were all pretty well defined, and as near as anybody knows, the artists would take quite a bit of time to scrape all the coloration off the stone, often making gouges or groves in the process.  These aren't going away any time soon!

We'd taken the time to follow all the paths, and saw a lot more of these than I'm showing here.  While I find them interesting, I really don't sense any particular meaning to much of them though, as said earlier, it is considered sacred ground to American Indians.

Heading back to the Jeep parked by the first hill we climbed, and you can get a feeling for the kind of country we're in.  And we had to stop to catch a shot of the sound-barrier fence/wall that much of the southwest uses to block traffic noise from residences.  They take the time and money to make some of these walls pretty.

More pretty walls, and another hot air balloon right over our heads.  The balloons take off before 6 AM to catch the calm air, and we can hear the "whoosh"-ing of the hot air jets almost every morning during the rally.

These guys came real close, and then out the front windshield (sorry for the tint at the top making things a bit dark) are another three taking off.  Pretty close to home, as you can see.

Start the day with the hot-air balloons, wander the fairgrounds between seminars or vendor booths, and get excellent entertainment every evening.  What a lifestyle, eh?

Pretty decent venue for a rally, even if we did have to take a shuttle bus 13 miles between the rally site and where we parked.

He'd hold the rabbit in a sitting position, somebody would point their fingers at the rabbit and say "Bang" and the rabbit would flop over on its back.  Then he'd tell the rabbit he was going to eat him for dinner since he was dead, and immediately the rabbit would pop back up into his arms.

Rabbit seemed none the worse for wear, and actually acted like it enjoyed being petted.  And even clowns aren't exempt from the use of the ubiquitous cell phone.  Apparently he loves Kathy, even if he is a bit "Flakey".

Not all seminars were as full as this one, but most were.  This particular seminar was regarding servicing (maintaining) the Cummins engines so many of us RV'ers have.  And then we strolled the area where the new rigs (and a few well used wagons) were on display.  Didn't see a thing we liked better than what we have, so we didn't buy anything new.  Good thing, too.  There's no way either of us would go through the trauma of another move.  Besides, we've made so many little modifications to this rig that we are beginning to feel like it's ours.

Ah, the morning line-up for free coffee, donuts, and newspaper.  The volunteers really do run these rallies.  We were volunteers for one afternoon at an Escapade a few years back, and it was fun besides.  Next time we do a rally we'll probably do some volunteering of one sort or another.

Gee, more balloons.  Must be morning.  And besides, now it's time to take a few "after" shots.  And then Barb tried to catch both Don and me with our bottoms in the air as we fooled around with the wiring for the installation of the MotoSat DataStorm satellite dish.  The one that lets us get online with broadband speeds sitting in the comfort of our own home.  Did a lot of research and talking to owners over the past several years, and came to the conclusion that for us, this was the best way to go.  Of course, in the near future we'll be using those little 8" square panels on the top of the rig rather than these huge dishes, but since I can't keep up with technology anyway...........

They called it "Balloon Glow" or something cute like that.  It's a chance for the balloon guys (and women too) to get together at night, and with the balloons more or less tethered, they light their fires.  Sometimes in sequence and sometimes, like now, all together.  Fellow on a loud speaker sort of directing the thing.  Kinda neat, really.  And really tough to get a decent shot of, for a rank amateur like me.  Fitting end to a fun time at the rally.