2009/09/24
2009/09/26
Change is Constant
The trip we imagine is shifting a bit. We’re now considering a quicker trip East so we’ll have more time there. To do that we’d skip Moab (saving it for a shorter future “western states” trip) going direct from San Diego to Santa Fe, and possibly also subtract the night in KS, then downshift to shorter hops east of the Mississippi. The longest flights would be two 3-hour hops in a day. Of course weather and any fatigue will have strong input on the trip we actually take! Once we’re in CT we imagine taking short day trips, hopefully including one to Maine perhaps staying overnight. Then we’ll make short hops down the coast to FL and then home across the south with some rest days as desired. Writing this now, it’s fun to wonder how the trip will actually unfold. What surprises will we encounter?
2009/09/27
Balloon Near Miss
Just found out the Albuquerque Balloon Festival will be on when we pass nearby headed for Santa Fe. It’s such a fanciful thing (their motto is “Mass Happiness”), we have to skim the edge for a peek & pix.
2009/09/28
Chaco Detour?
According to the ABQ Balloon Fest schedule, there aren’t any balloon activities planned for the evening we anticipate arrival in Santa Fe. We saw again tonight the amazing Mystery of Chaco Canyon docu on PBS, and are now wondering if we might detour at Gallup to gaze upon Chaco from a respectful distance. We once flew over Acoma, having visited it years ago, and enjoyed the different perspective and context from the air. Maybe we’ll get a raven’s eye view of Chaco, in the hope of going back to walk it in the future. Then we might also detour a bit south out of Santa Fe the next morning in time to see some balloons in the valley.
Any ideas or suggestions? Thinking about all this got me thinking about what else we might watch for along the general route. If you know of something that would be noteworthy from one or two thousand feet above, please let us know.