In Colorado Springs, we stayed with our wonderful Aunt Helen, and had some incredible times during three visits to their annual Balloon festival.
There were over 80 up in the air, and we actually saw one LAND in the middle of a 4 lane HIGHWAY!!!! As you can see, they launch near a lake, then they skim on the top of the lake, and finally go up. One evening, we went to see the "Balloon Glow" where the balloons are filled with hot air, and, without actually launching, flare their flames- causing them to glow. Sadly, it was too windy and they canceled that... many people were leaving due to the high winds and recent lightning (oh-FYI, nearby a hiker had been killed by a lightning strike! ....anyway) what they DID DO instead was set up the balloons without the balloons - that is, just the baskets with their propane flares. THAT WAS AWESOME! About 25 of these powerful flamethrowers going off at once .... it felt like we had landed in some ancient ceremony ( or were having a thrilling date with the devil !!!!!) Note the cool picture with the MOON.... notice how the sun lights up a side of the moon AND amazingly, also lights up the same side of the balloon........
Uhhh...do we really need to say anything about this store in Colorado?
Took a day trip to the far NW corner of Colorado to the Dinosaur National Monument , where we were supposed to be able to see an actual active quarry of dinosaur bones (one of the worlds largest).....sadly, the building built over this quarry has structural damage and has been closed for over a year!! Did not know - DUH... We at least got to walk a path to see a few bones embedded in the rock. Pic shows a dino femur.
On to UTAH!! This is the scene after a significant hike uphill to the "Delicate Arch" in the Arches National Park. The view here is phenomenal!!
No comments:
Post a Comment