Mediterranean Cruise 2010

So much for staying at home. We flew to Rome, Italy for a 3-week land/sea cruise with eight friends of ours on the Navigator of the Seas. To see the details, click on our cruise blog at http://navigatoroftheseas2010.blogspot.com.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

We awoke at 4:30 AM this morning to get over to the Balloon Fiesta Park in time to see the Mass Ascension where about 500 hot air balloons from 17 different countries were scheduled to launch into the morning sky over a period of an hour or two. This is THE event to see at the Fiesta! The sun began rising, the sky was clear, the wind was light, and then, almost like magic, you would see balloons begin to inflate all around you. At first, only a few... then a few dozen... then as others began to grow, some began floating into the sky. Before you knew it, the sky was lit up as the morning light illuminated all the balloons and the sky filled with color.

Some of the more unique special shaped balloons (87 of them in total) included a giant cow (not jumping over the moon), Darth Vader, a swarm of bees, a witch and Spongebob Squarepants. What a fantastic way to spend a morning!

Albuquerque, NM

Today, after our ship's memorial service in the Chapel of Kirtland Air Force Base, our group toured the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History where we learned a lot about how atomic energy has been used to develop everything from the fluoroscope x-ray machines to the atomic and hydrogen bombs. Then, in the early evening, we went to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta to observe their Special Shape Glowdio where all of the special shaped balloons were inflated while tethered to the ground, then lit using the gas flames that are used to heat the balloon. We were allowed to walk among them and observe the event really close up and we did so with smiles on our faces the whole time. What an awesomely beautiful jaw-dropping experience!!

Santa Fe, NM

 We are now in Albuquerque, NM to attend my Navy ship's annual reunion. Today, we took a side trip up to Santa Fe to explore some of the southwest's history and culture. The architecture of this area is very unique. This building is one of the museums that surround the town square. In the square proper are many booths manned by the local Native Americans selling their jewelry and other local art. We visited Loretto Chapel which contains the Miraculous Stairway that was built by hand in 1873 and has no visible means of support, yet still stands strong after all these years of use. Simply amazing.

NC Good Sam Samboree in Marion, NC

Our last stop before heading back to Florida was at the NC Good Sam Samboree that was held in Marion, NC. We camped with five other RVs from our Sams-O-Wake club (plus about 275 other RVs from all over) for the week and took part in the many activities these gatherings offer - like playing bean-bag baseball, ring toss, bingo, hide and seek (only kidding on this one!), shopping at vendor booths, enjoying to the evening music performances and waiting to see if we won anything at the Chinese Auction - and we did!

We also took a few side trips early in the week. On Tuesday, our friends Art & Sandy took us to the mountains where we visited Cherokee, NC. This is a touristy area mainly populated by the Cherokee Indian Tribe with most stores and decorations depicting their lifestyle. While there, we went into their humongous casino and spent some time playing the penny slot machines (we're not big gamblers). I didn't win anything but Susan came out over $6.00 ahead. Wow! The next day, we drove up to visit Little Switzerland up in the mountains. It was a beautiful drive but there wasn't much to see in the town itself - especially since the fog was so thick on the mountain tops that we almost missed the town when we got there. Tomorrow, we'll drive home to Florida and prepare for our next big adventure.

Heading South

We spent the following week at another campground near Lancaster to attend an RV club outing with our long-time friends from the Sams-O-Wake club in Raleigh. While we were there, we visited even more fascinating Amish places, ate way too much good food and got caught up with what's happened since we moved away. What a fun time!

Then we headed South to Greensboro, NC to attend the High Lonesome Strings' Fall Camp n' Pick. We have belonged to this bluegrass club for many years and really enjoyed this opportunity to see some old friends, eat some fine country cooking and play some good old bluegrass music with them again.

Strasburg, PA

Another short drive from the campground finds us at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. What a cool place! Inside their humongous building are a wide variety of locomotives from the very first steam carriage (ca. 1825) through the mid-1900s, passenger cars, freight cars, mail cars and cabooses in near perfect condition. They even have an exhibit that looks like an early 20th century passenger depot. You almost fell like you've gone back in time. Outside are even more locomotives (more than 100 of them in all) and various other rail cars. A very impressive collection.

On our way home, we passed through a small town by the name of Paradise, PA. This must really be Paradise since, as this sign shows, there is a very important office here.