DAY 81 & 82- Balloons & 7200 Feet...

DAY 81- International Balloon Museum
It was cloudy and cold when I left the hotel.  I headed a few exits north and arrived at the International Balloon Museum where I paid a $4 entrance fee.  There’s a $1 break for New Mexican’s.  I got to learn about the history of hot air ballooning.  It all started with two wealthy brothers and King Louis XVI in 1783 when a duck, a sheep, and a rooster were put into flight.  Yeah, it kind of sounds like a punch line to a joke.  The brothers were sons of a wealthy newspaper man and one day observed what smoke did to the papers.  Little did they realize yet that it was the differences in the temperature of the air and not the smoke.  The first balloons were made of paper and usual there were two in the balloon one to fly it by stoking the flames and the other was on hand whose job it was to make sure the balloon didn’t catch on fire. 

Photo- Some of the history of hot air ballooning.

From there the ideas and competition progressed to the first flight across the English Channel and then the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean that happened on August 17, 1978.  In the Victorian era, the balloon was used often as a form of entertainment.  In fact, often woman were falling out of the air in feats of entertainment with primitive forms of parachutes.  In 1981, the first balloon flight across the Pacific took place going from Japan to the US.  In fact, the Double Eagle V’s actual “basket” was at the museum. 

Photo- Me taking a photo op.

I was surprised to learn that balloons were used in war.  There was an actual “envelop” (the hot air holding part of the balloon) from a Fugo Hot Air Balloon that was used by the Japanese during World War 2.  These balloons were launched from Japan in WW2 to be floated into the US in the hopes of starting forest fires.  Fortunately, they were launched at a time of year when it was winter in the US and no actual fires were started.  However, there was one that was one that did go off and kill part of a family.  There’s a memorial to that family in Blythe, OR. 

Photo- Double Eagle V "baskt" that made the Pacfic Ocean flight in 1981.

There was an area for a balloon school where they had a simulator to teach new balloonists.  I had to give it a try.  I was really surprised how I did.  I scored 72.8 out of 100.  But no this will not be a new hobby for me; I’m WAY to afraid of heights to ever consider entering into this field.  It was fun though, giving it a try.

Photo- El Pinto restaurant.

When I left the balloon museum, there was rain going sideways.  I went back in and asked the guy at the counter about a place nearby to grab lunch and maybe wait out the rain.  He gave me directions to a place called El Pinto.  I had to laugh a bit when he told me this.  El Pinto was the other restaurant that the hotel clerk had recommended.  It was like everyone was working off of the same list; a restaurant conspiracy?  El Pinto was a bit out of the way and very local.  In fact, I drove by it the first time.  It’s rather back and in away from the road and has an understated sign out by the road. 

I walked in and felt under dressed as all of the servers were dressed in white dress shirts and black pants; then there were the woman in designer dresses.  Oh, but wait there were some guys in jeans and cowboy hats.  Never mind, I was safe.  I ordered a stuffed sopapilla with chicken and I was disappointed after Sadie’s a couple n nights ago.  This place’s stuffed sopapilla was fresher with lettuce, tomato, and a bit of unmelted cheese.  I sat near the bar which was a wonderful room and I loved some of the art they had on the wall.  In fact, there was this modern painting of a dog that I would’ve loved to have owned.

The sun had started to try to peak out of the clouds when I left El Pinto.  I drove north on I-25 to Santa Fe which is about a drive of 35 miles.  The drive was rainy off and on.  The highway was climbing quite a bit of the way.  It was not quite about 5 when I got checked into the hotel.

I dropped off my things at my room and then took the hotel shuttle down to the Plaza the Santa Fe downtown area.  I wandered around the plaza area for a while but it appeared most of the places were closing at 6pm.  As places closed down I went in search of some place to eat.  I stumbled onto the Ore House; one of the places that had been recommended to me.  I found a place at the bar and ordered.  I had a bowl of green chili stew which was wonderful but decided to also order a hamburger which one of the guys at the bar said was THE best. 

Photo- Some wonderful architecture in Santa Fe's Plaza area.

I struck up a conversation with this guy and his girlfriend.  He had to be at work and I was still in conversation with her.  The next thing I know her and I are bar hopping in Santa Fe.  It was so much fun and all I had to worry about was making sure to get back to the corner of the plaza to catch the last shuttle at 9:10PM.  Well, my new friend said not to worry because the hotel that I was staying at was on the way home for hr. and her boyfriend.  Her boyfriend actually joined us at the 2^nd bar having finished what he needed to do at work.  We visited what they called the “Bar Triangle” of Santa Fe.  The 3 bars were the Ore House, the Matador, and Evangelo’s.   It all worked out great.  At about midnight her boyfriend gave me a ride back to the hotel and then swung over to his girlfriend’s.

Photo- The sign inside at Evangelo's Bar.  A common sign inside the bars in Santa Fe
was that they only took cash but this one took it a bit farther.

DAY 82- 7200 Ft…

I woke up at 6:30AM to a cold gray morning.  I had drank a whole lot of water the night before I went to bed; no hangover this time.  But I felt like I had a weight on my chest.  I was finding it a bit hard to breathe.  I threw on some clothes and went down for breakfast hoping maybe a hot meal with coffee would make the difference.  It didn’t.  I just felt run down and wiped out of energy.  I made a couple of phone calls.  My Aunty Lindy made the suggestion that it might be the elevation combined with a storm system that was going on in Santa Fe.  Could it be that my body was not adjusting to the 7200ft. elevation of Santa Fe? 

I decided to make it a day off.  I went out once to grab something to eat but otherwise hung out in my hotel room.  I watched TV and did a bit of surfing on the internet.  I just took it easy.  I was hoping that a day of rest and allowing my body to adjust to the elevation was all that I needed to do.

DAY 67, 68, & 69- Regrouping and Days Off…

After the eye opening problem with the debit/credit card fiasco, my nerves were a bit over stressed and it was affecting me.  My stomach was upset and anything food wise just didn’t appeal.  I found myself misplacing stuff and I just couldn’t quite focus on things.  I was in need of some serious downtime and needed to re-evaluate what and how I was doing things.

John had offered for me to come stay with him again in Palm Desert and I kind of jumped at the idea of it.  It was some place where the weather was warmer and where I could hand out a friend and I would be in someone’s home rather than an impersonal hotel room.  So, after picking up my debit/credit card from the museum in Kingman on Friday morning, I found myself driving for Palm Desert; a bit of a back track but the possibility of downtime and days off flashed in my mind.  I couldn’t wait for the 4.25 hour drive to be over.

It was good to see John and it was a very good weekend of just relaxing and hanging out. 

Highlights of the weekend—

Friday night-               
We had a bit of partying fun at the Tilted Kilt, which is an upscale restaurant version of Hooter’s in Palm Desert with gals that wear short kilt skirts and skimpy front tied shirts but with a lot better food than Hooters.  Our server was a cute 19 year old blonde named Christina who helped make the whole experience of the restaurant fun.  John and I ended up taking a taxi cab ride home we were having SO much fun.  The fun continued when we got back to his place and we ended up running around on the wet fourth green of the golf course that’s just off of his patio area.  I’m amazed and thankful that the police weren’t called.

Photo- The sun setting and the moon rising in Palm Desert.

Saturday-

Well, a bit of a HUGE hangover for me and most of the day I spent trying to recover from it.  My stomach was almost as angry with me as was my head.  OMG!  Why did I drink THAT much?  But flashes of the night came back and it had been well worth the hangover.  John kept on looking at me and cracking up.  I guess I must have looked pretty pathetic.  However, I did finally manage to give John a ride back to pick up his car from the Tilted Kilt.  Later on, I was alive enough to prepare a meal of chicken Dijon for John and myself which we enjoyed while watching the Notre Dame Football game.  We watched the Fighting Irish win; that made John very happy.

Sunday-

In the early morning, I managed to get a nice climbing ride in on the bike in the Palm Desert area.  I climbed part of the way up Hwy 74 until the shoulder of the road got too narrow and it wasn’t safe to be with the speeding cars.  But it felt good to be climbing on the bike.  They have wonderful bike lanes in Palm Desert that are also designed for golf carts too.  I worked on my 5 loads of laundry but had enough time to go get a mani-pedicure at a local nail place where a cute gal named Kim from Vietnam waited on me. I also discovered that Palm Desert is really into their golf carts.  They closed down a main street area for a golf cart parade.  A parade of them?  Now that’s some people with some serious golf cart issues.  Later on, I made a batch of my chili while John grilled up some brats on his back patio area.  We enjoyed chili dogs while we watched the Giants win the World Series game; another wonderful way to end the day!

Photo- My pretty new purple toes after my mani-pedi.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend and I want to thank John for putting up with me; especially when I get silly and drunk.  But it was just what I needed to help me de-stress.

DAY 31-32- Bike Ride, Museum, & Family...

DAY 31- A Bike Ride and Logging Museum...


Photo- Bike path in Klamath Falls near where bike paths meet.

It was beautiful blue skies with not a cloud in the sky and the temp had risen to mid-50’s; as I jumped on my bike to explore the Klamath Falls area a second time.  I will say that Oregon in general is a very bike friendly state.  I was finding that the area of Klamath Falls was holding true to that rule too.

Klamath Falls has 2 main paved bike paths; one that goes along the city’s canal for about 6 miles and another that goes through the heart of the city and out to a small town called Olene.  The 2 paths meet at a bridge where they form an “X” and they make quite a bit of the city accessible via these paths.  There are sidewalks from various neighborhoods that meet up to the path and there are even other short paths that go into other parks or neighborhoods.  All of these path ways are reclaimed areas where the railroad used to be.  There are even additional unpaved trails that spread out from these two paths and if you had something other than a road bike, like me, you could go for miles and miles on this system of trails and paths.    

Photo- The Amtrak Station in Klamath Falls.

There are also quite a few street areas that have painted bike lanes in them too.  While trying to find where the second path started, I happened upon the Klamath Falls Amtrak Station.  I thought that was rather interesting that there was a station here.  But I guess there is a fair amount of tourist business that goes to nearby Crater Lake and commuters from the surrounding areas that use the train.

Photo- A big yard with a big garden along bike path.

Photo- A duck in the canal along bike path.

As I rode along both of these paths, I noticed all kinds of things.  There are a mix of big yards with gardens, ducks on the canal, schools, city swimming pools, farms, warehouses, RV resorts, lumber yards, nice neighborhoods and not so nice neighborhoods.  You almost felt like you were in the country in some areas even though you were only a ½ block away.

Later on, I went to the Collier State Park Logging Museum.  It’s about 40 miles north of Klamath Falls on Hwy 97. (Crater Lake’s south entrance is about 65 miles north of Klamath Falls.)  This museum is more of an outdoor display than the typical standard museum.  During the height of the summer they have state park employees that do demonstrations and give more guided tours of the area.  Well, as per my luck, I was two weeks late for all of that.  So I opted to borrow a map from the state park employee who was manning the information/gift shop and do my own self-guided tour.

Photo- Used to be drawn by horses and used to transport logs down the mountainside.

Photo- One of the first Caterpillars.

Photo- AND the $64,000 question is.... What's a RIP SNORTER?

The museum is set up with the history of logging in Oregon which started in the late 1860’s.  Logging in the late 1860’s consisted of hand tools and wagon-like vehicles where horses were used.  There were all kinds of examples of these items outside under pavilions.  Then, near the turn of the century steam came into being and steam-powered engine orientated machinery came into use.  These pieces of machinery were larger and were generally sitting out in the open.  Next, it was the combustible engine and the logging industry progressed on into our current time.  Most of these pieces were out in the open and on display. 

Photo- A restored original cabin of what the first loggers would have lived in.

There was also a cabin village area to show how most of the men would live while they were logging.  Most of these cabins were one room, with dirt floors, and hew from logs.  They were generally about 10’ x 14’ with a slanted roof.  It was a very interesting place to visit and it was just a very pretty day out.  It was nice just to be out enjoying it.

DAY 32—A Day Off and Family…

I know, I know… I had just taken off another day off just a few days ago and come on it can’t be that hard to be on a basically permanent vacation.  What’s up with that??!?  Well, I did need to catch up with some laundry, try to rearrange the inside of my car, and I wanted to do a bit of painting too; plus, I wanted to hang out some more with my Aunt Lindy too.   I managed to get a couple of paintings done and laundry got done too.  I hung out the whole day with Aunt Lindy and that was nice too.  It was a productive day. 

Photo- "Tickled Pink Shoppe"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" paper.
Based on shop I photoed in Portownsend, WA.

But let me say one thing about family; I think that there are more characteristics than just hair color, eye color, and general appearance that get passed on in a family.  What I’m alluding to is that I am now convinced that the genetic makeup for the open-mouth-insert-foot disease definitely runs in my family. Not that that’s bad but I noticed my family has a tendency to speak our minds and sometimes it’s not the most “Politically Correct” way of stating things.  I guess you could say that it’s probably a good thing that no one in the family is into running for political office because they would definitely be up that creek with no paddle and a ten foot wave coming at them.  But I will say that this same “disease” is part of the reason that makes me so dearly love my family too.  Sometimes, I think that it’s the small idiosyncrasies that make people, relationships and families so interesting; and thus, makes life very interesting too.