Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Day 1

Thursday, 9/29/11: Nothing scheduled for today until 2:30 p.m. at which time all gathered for a Rally Orientation. We ran a few errands in the morning, had lunch in and took a short nap before heading over to the WIT Hospitality Tent for the orientation. There are 46 Winnebagos/88 persons attending this Rally. A good hour or so was spent going over the schedule for the next 8 days and the rules and regulations to be followed. We then had a very interesting presentation on ballooning, both helium and gas (racing) by a couple that has been ballooning both types for more than 30 years. We were then served a catered light supper. The Rally really gets underway tomorrow, the Balloon Fiesta on Saturday. Some interesting facts about the Balloon Fiesta:
• It started as an anniversary party event for KOB Radio in 1972. 13 balloons lifted off from a shopping center parking lot. One police officer was assigned and overwhelmed as over 10,000 spectators showed up for the event.
• This it is the 40th annual running of the event which will feature 580 balloons from 22 different countries.
• There will be Mass Ascensions, Flying Competitions, Morning Glows, Special Shape Rodeos, a Gas Balloon Race and Evening Balloon Glows followed by AfterGlow Fireworks
• There are over 8,000 RV’s in our field with many others located around the event area.
• Attendance expected to exceed 800,000.
• The balloon launch field is the size of 82 football fields.

Albuquerque or Bust - Travel Day 7

Wednesday, 9/28/11: Travel day 7, the final travel day to Albuquerque to take in the 40th Annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. As we left Texas and passed into New Mexico, we entered the Mountain Time Zone. We arrived at the Premier RV Parking Area where our WIT Rally was situated around 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon. Several rigs from last summer’s Alaska Caravan were already here, having just completed the Grand Circle Caravan. All total, including ourselves, 7 of the 15 rigs that did the Alaska Caravan together will be here for this Rally. Those of us that had arrived 2 or more days early gathered in the WIT tent for a social hour at 4:00 p.m. Now that we’ve arrived, future reporting will be titled Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.

Home Again

We arrived home on Sunday, August 22, 2010 after:
* 12,109 miles of travel to and from Alaska using
* 1,865 gallons of gas
We were gone for:
* 88 days of which
* 53 were travel days on the road

It was a trip of a lifetime, our 50th wedding anniversary gift to each other. It was wonderful, but seems like a dream now. Thank goodness for my blog and over 300 pictures to remember it all by.

Thus ends my blog on our "Little Journey" to Alaska.

Marcia & Jerry Little

Yellowstone to Verona, NY

We stopped in at the WIT (Winnebago-Itasca Travelers) Visitor Center in Forest City, IA, on the way home. There is parking for rigs there with 30amp power, so we spent the night there in order to take the factory tour the next morning.

The tour began with a 20-minute video about Winnebago and how they go about engineering and building their motorhomes. Winnebago manufactures 80 percent of everything that goes into their motorhomes. After the video, we boarded a bus and began the factory tour.

The first building we went into was chassis development where the chassis frames were cut to lengthen their wheelbase and/or lengthened at their rear. In addition, this is where the framework was added for the width and to accommodate all of the underfloor workings and storage.

In the next building, all of the underfloor components were put in and the floor itself installed and floor coverings added.

The last building is where the sidewalls, interiors and roofs were manufactured and installed. In all three buildings, a lot of manufacturing was done on an upped level and dropped down into the units as they moved along the assembly line.

The final two stops for each motorhome is the paint shop and the quality control building where it is put through an extensive check.

Taking this tour confirmed everything we thought about the quality of Winnebago and Itasca motorhomes.

It took three travel days to reach the Winnebago factory in Forest City, IA, and then four more to get to Verona, NY, where we took a Rest Day and the weather has been beautiful all the way. One more travel day to go to reach home.

Extra - Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home. What more do you need? There's a roof overhead, a door and a window. A regular antenna for the local channels and a dish for satellite reception. An ATV and a boat.

This is just across the street from our campground. I have to assume that this guy is living within his means!

Yellowstone, the Second Time Around

Yellowstone…expansive and diverse. Grass covered plains and lush green pine covered mountains. Pristine lakes, bubbling mud pots and gushing geysers. This picture is Palette Spring at Mammoth Hot Springs, an ever evolving changing landscape. We had to some back to Yellowstone again as the two days we spent in early June were not enough to take it all in.

The first time through we pretty much covered the West side of the part, so this trip was to see the East side. On the drive down to Yellowstone Lake we got a good look at the area of the ’88 forest fire and happy to see all the new growth taking over from the ashes of the fire. There were herds of bison, one deer and a group of mountain sheep. At Sulphur Caldron puddles of mud boiled and bubbled.

For anyone heading out West, Yellowstone is a “must see”. Plan to spend a minimum of 4 to 5 days, more if you can.

Prince George, BC to Yellowstone, WY

The Alaska Caravan just a memory now, we’re on our way home. The picture was taken along I90 in Montana. If all goes as planned, we’ll arrive back home on August 24th.

8/05/10 Thursday: Our first travel day toward home, took us South on Canada 97 for a little over 5 hours, then West on Route 8 through some mountains to Merritt, BC. As we left Prince George, we began to smell smoke, and there was a smokey haze over the area. It wasn’t long before visibility dropped to a maximum of ½ mile. This continued for several hours before returning to just a light smokey haze. We were not surprised, as there were currently over 400 forest fires burning in BC.

8/06/10 Friday: Today we crossed the border back into the US. Going through Customs, our load was lightened by an Agriculture Customs Agent who came aboard and took our two tomatoes and two apples. We stopped at a wonderful campground just North of Spokane, WA…situated in a private golf community. There was still a light smokey haze even in WA.

8/07/10: Saturday: Today was a rest day. We drove to an RV Superstore, picked up a few things from their Parts Department and toured some 2010 Winnebagos. Other than that, we just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

8/08/10 Sunday: Today’s drive took us through 3 States, WA, ID and MT. It rained last night and that seemed to have cleared up the air. Northern Idaho is beautiful and Montana really lives up to its’ “Big Sky” name. We spent the night at a nice small campground in Garrison, MT.

8/09/10 Monday: Continued on in MT to Gardiner, MT, just a few blocks from the North Entrance to Yellowstone. We only spent 2-days in Yellowstone on our way to Alaska, and that was not enough, so we’re stopping by again for a few more days. Another nice day on the road, but right after arrival in the campground, we had some heavy thunder storms.