BACK TO ARIZONA

Friday was our last morning at the balloon fiesta. It was a little windy and many of the balloons decided not to fly. It calmed down so some of the large shape balloons eventually launched. Even the balloon we were the chase crew for took off in flight.

The space shuttle is enormous.

Thursday my girl fiend from college, Kathy, and two of her teacher friends from Quakertown, PA flew in for the balloon fiesta.( a husband and a nephew were also along). Lynn, Kathy, Larry and I went to the balloon fiesta to see the night glow, but once again it was too windy for the balloons to inflate so it was cancelled. We had fun walking down the fairway, shopping and seeing the spectacular firework display. It was great seeing Kathy.

We drove to Grant, NM for the night. In the morning we went to the Mine Museum. This is the area where they mined uranium, it goes from Gallup to Albuquerque. Mining stopped in the mid 70's after Thousand Mile Island, (TMI). They are hoping the area will begin mining again in the next ten years.

You can go underground to see the mine.

I didn't sleep well in Grant because of the train whistle every 15 minutes all night long. Apparently Route 40 follows beside the railroad track.

We came back to Arizona for my appointment at the Mayo clinic.

Our next tourist stop was at the Meteor Crater. It has a very nice RV park and the sunset was lovely.

We took a guided walk around part of the crater.

Our guide talking to us about the crater.

On the other side of the crater are observation decks. You had to walk up and down steep ramps and many stairs. We got plenty of exercise.

We went to Campers World in Mesa, AZ for some minor repairs we had scheduled when we were here last month. While they worked on the RV we went to Usery Mountain Regional Park and took a three mile bike ride.

In the Trail Blazer magazine I saw an ad for some Encore parks in Arizona where you could stay for the month for $199. We drove around and looked at them and decided to stay at Viewpoint RV Golf the Tennis Resort in Mesa. We chose this park because they have pickleball and cable. It is a very large resort with many homes, golf courses, tennis courts and swimming pools. The price was $199, plus a $3.00 a day activity fee, plus electric, water and trash bills, so I think it will be more like $400 when all the bills are paid.

Two pickleball courts. Larry went up this morning and was welcomed by the pickleball club. We can join for $15 a person. It gives you rights to use their equipment and play in the morning.
They are trying to get more pickleball courts.

There is a large activity center. They have line dancing twice a week, so I'll have to check it out. I had my nose surgery yesterday and am out of commission for a week until I get my stitches out.