On our way to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Favorite Photo this entry courtesy of Al:

With my water-ski injury and the heavy winds, we spent a couple of additional nights at the Elks lodge in Boulder City, Nevada.  Towing a large trailer in heavy winds is no fun!

We made up time by doing a longer drive day than usual and drove all the way to Winslow, Arizona where we stayed at the Elks Lodge for two nights.

 I was still trying to rest my foot so on the last day we walked the three blocks to the "Corner of Winslow, Arizona" so we could "stand" there like it says in the Taking It Easy song lyrics made famous by the Eagles.

Standin' on the Corner (with the help of crutches)

I love the way Al captured the truck and the truck in the mural window!

Standin' on the opposite corner

There were a couple of souvenir shops on the corners and the Eagles music was playing and their memorabilia items for sale were popular items.

Some of the Eagles memorabilia for sale

One the opposite corner was Tommy Dukes and his guitar playing some good tunes for the tourists. 

African American Musicians from Winslow

Tommy Dukes

Nancy getting some Big sound!

One thing I didn't notice until we were leaving is that the mural was painted on just a facade with no actual building behind it on the corner.  That line from the song put this town on the map!

Next we made our way in to New Mexico.

We spent a night at the campground at the Sky City Casino about 45 minutes west of Albuquerque.

We hoped to stay two nights at the casino but they were booked for the second night.  Our friends, Joie & Mike posted that they were already at the Albuquerque Elks Lodge so I asked them if there was room for us there.  They told us there was lots of room so we drove over and got parked in their lot.

As the day wore on, more and more RV's were arriving and squeezing into the lot.  Most were staying there for the Balloon Fiesta.

We spent one night at the Albuquerque Elks Lodge and then waited for our friends Linda & Randy to arrive from Amarillo.  While waiting we left to empty our tanks and then came back and filled up our fresh water tanks in preparation for 10 nights of boondocking on the Balloon Fiesta grounds.

Linda & Randy met us at the Elks Lodge and  took on water before our three rigs caravaned to the Fiesta grounds.  We needed to drive over together in order to be parked together.

All lined up ready to move to the Fiesta grounds

Here's a short video of our caravan leaving the Elks Lodge:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3OuK4lhsC_/?igshid=h75h11azh3c7

We got checked in to the VIP North Lot and set up our rigs.  Joie & Mike in the Class C on the left, Linda & Randy in the 5th wheel in the middle, and Al and me on the right in the travel trailer.

Here is our "street" for the next 10 days in the VIP North Lot!

Al made a big pot of chicken noodle soup in our Instant Pot along with Red Lobster biscuits for all of us for dinner.

Our first sunset from the Fiesta grounds

All three couples signed up to be volunteers, which are referred to as Navigators, at the VIP Club they call the Gondola Club.

The next morning we walked from the North lot to our volunteer location at the Gondola Club all the way on the other end of the field.  We had an orientation to attend.  I loved the view of the nice green grass on the field.  By wearing my hiking shoes I was able to walk without much pain in my sprained foot.

On the grounds is a statue to Sid Cutter who was the founder of the Fiesta.

Sid Cutter's vision put Albuquerque on the map as the hot air balloon capital of the world. Sid had no idea that a little birthday party surprise for his mother would evolve into the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Thanks to Sid's sense of adventure and tenacity, the Balloon Fiesta has grown from a modest gathering of 13 balloons in 1972 to the largest gathering of hot air balloons in the world.

One Albuquerque

The next morning the Fiesta officially opens and we had to set our alarm clocks for 3:30 AM to get to the Gondola Club by 4:30 AM to start our shift!