Balloon Fiesta!

October, 2011

Doug and I headed to Albuquerque and spent the weekend with Lisa and Brian. We woke up ver-ry early and headed out to the Fiesta. Put this one on your bucket list. Those balloons are something to see!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Very fun!

In a matter of an hour or two, it was all over. The skies were filled with balloons!

Jack was a real trooper. But that early morning wake-up call finally caught up with him.

Isn't he sweet?

And I saved my absolute favorite picture for last. Isn't she just the sweetest, most beautiful angel you've ever seen? She was so-o good!

By sheer coincidence, Linda was in town for a nearby retreat. After Mass at the Basilica in Santa Fe, Brian and Lisa took us all out to one of the nicest restaurants ev-ah! Coyote Cafe (don't let the name fool you) was all class. Brian treated us to foods that went beyond the norm - smoking cocktails (literally), grilled lamb, honeycomb and cheese (fab!), basil and mint sorbet (flavor explosion!) fig ice cream (who knew?)--pure heaven, let me tell you. HEAVEN!

Thank you, Lisa and Brian, for a memorable evening!

And a few more . . .

Here's a few pics of Lisa and Brian's incredible house--and their fabulous kitchen.

The refrigerator . . .

Though this pic doesn't do the 'family room' justice, it flows right from the kitchen. Easy to see why this area is their favorite. It was ours, too.

Courtyard shot.

If you could only see how big the backyard is!

This is from Lisa's kitchen window - the balloons have launched!



The mountains, from their driveway.

Doug giving Tiger a few pointers . . . at Madame Tousseau's in Las Vegas.

We took a day trip to the Grand Canyon. It truly is an amazing place. Here we are on the Skywalk, which is only 4 years old. It's a glass platform 4000 feet above the bottom of the canyon.


This one makes my tummy flutter all over again.

Breathtaking.

Doug and I climbed this little mountain. The altitude had us old fogies huffing and puffing, but we made it. The Hualapai Indians want to keep the canyon as natural as possible. There's no guardrails anywhere. Boggles my mind that no tourist has ever tumbled over the edge.