Grand Canyon

We parked the RV in Williams, Arizona, for a few nights as we took the jeep to the Grand Canyon. Williams is a charming town nestled at the base of Bill Williams Mountain in one of the largest Ponderosa 

Pine Forests in the world. Our first night in town, we walked along Route 66 and had a very good dinner a local brewery.  

The next day was a beautiful sunny day, just perfect for the Grand Canyon. This is our third trip to the canyon, we love hiking along the south rim. We always have dinner at the El Tovar dining room, this time we got a table by the window to enjoy the view of the canyon.

Visiting Family in the Phoenix Area

John and their dog, Miso, hanging out by the pool.

Late Wednesday, we picked up our coach from Lazydays in Tucson, they did a great job replacing the radiator in our RV.  We drove on to the Phoenix area to spend a few days visiting John's cousin Barbie and her husband Jim, a fun, interesting, and wonderful couple. They have a beautiful home in the town of Fountain Hill; spent most evenings out by the pool talking well past dark. We had a great time with them and I especially enjoyed all the stories of John and Barbie growing up in New Jersey.

Pima Air & Space Museum

Today we went the Pima Air & Space Museum. It is one of the largest non-government funded aviation and space museums in the world, featuring over 300 historical aircrafts.  John spotted a half a dozen aircraft that he flew for the Army.

Mount Lemmon, Arizona

We dropped our coach off to Lazydays in Tucson to have the radiator replaced. Moved into a hotel room at Four Point by Sheraton while they are working on the coach. Friends recommended going up Mount Lemmon while we are in this area and we are so glad we listened to them. 

With a summit elevation of 9159 ft, Mount Lemmon is the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains, located in the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson.

The drive alone is beautiful; at the bottom of the mountain you are surrounded by saguaros cacti and at the top you are deep in a pine forest. Mount Lemmon offers a large range of hiking trails at various elevations, you can't help stopping at most of them.

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

Miles and miles of shimmering white sand dunes to hike on and slide down. White Sands National Monument protects more than half of the 275 square miles of the Chihuahuan Desert. We spent a few hours exploring and playing on the dazzling sand dunes, so much fun!

Last Day - Balloon Fiesta

 
 Never known for being a morning person, somehow I find it easy to be out on the balloon launching field very early - love the serenity in the air and the magic of seeing the crews ready the balloons. This is a great time to talk to the balloon pilots, there are so many people to meet with balloons from all over the world. Dawn patrol is always worth getting up for and the mass Ascension was amazing this morning!

Left the field in enough time to get back to the coaches and say good-bye to everyone. Got to meet Rose and Larry's adorable yorkie 'Ty', what a sweetie. Later, John and I stopped by to see Brenda and Walt and we met their dog 'Dallas', a big loving yellow lab. While we were saying our good-byes some of the balloon came extremely close to the RVs, kind of exciting.

Eventually, it was time for us to pack up and roll down the road. We drove to White Sands Missile Range for the night. 

Balloon Fiesta's Music Fiesta

Today was a cloudy, windy morning; only few balloons flew. The Monaco Rally hosts served yummy breakfast burritos. We enjoyed our burritos with Walt and Brenda and also met a few others. Rose and Larry, a lovely couple, have friends that attended the Balloon Fiesta last year and are also here with them this year.  I agree with them, once is not enough. John and I will have to return in a few years and I think joining the Monaco International Rally is the best way to enjoy the Balloon Fiesta.  The hosts are organized and knowledgeable about ballooning, the members of Monaco International are friendly, and the RV lot location is so close to the action - just a short walk and you are in the middle of the balloons.

It rained around lunchtime, but cleared up for the afternoon Music Fiesta. The headliner was Chris Young, he put on a good show.

John and I went out to Rudy's Bar-B-Q for dinner and got extra for lunch tomorrow.