FINAL SURPRISES

Monday, Oct 6th

Up and down to breakfast by 7:30 am. Jim had gone back to the room and the rest of our group were enjoying our coffee when Jim called on the cell phone to tell me that he'd spotted balloons heading towards the hotel. Jup...the wind was blowing in our direction and they'd decided to hold an unscheduled launch this morning.

By the time we climbed to the third floor there were less than ten balloons in the air...within half an hour there were well over one hundred...all heading our way. Our hotel has three floors with walkways around the outside of each floor. Everyone was running from place to place to get the best photos. Some were landing before they reached us, others went past and some landed in the Cracker Barrell Restaurant parking lot. That's where we had dinner the first night; only a block from our hotel. The last ones passed us by 9 am.

So as the stock market plunged we watch balloons rise to the sky and float over our hotel; one final surprise event at the Balloon Festival before we each went our separate ways. Donna & Ray are headed home, Sandra & Leo are headed for three days in Santa Fe and we're on our way north towards Colorado.

A few of the special ones were up including the cathedral; one balloon had only one person who was in a chair instead of the basket. Enjoy the best of the photos...



Finally finished packing and checked out. On the road again, we headed north on Interstate 25 towards Santa Fe. Arrived around noon the place was packed; parking was very difficult. We've been here before so only planned to see a few things. Enjoyed the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum; Jim said it was the best Exhibit of her works that he'd ever seen. Being Monday, most of the other museums were closed but we enjoyed walking the plaza and visiting the Cathedral. After a quick lunch at The Burrito Co., we found the car and headed north. Originally we'd planned to drive to Colorado Springs but decided to stop just south of Colorado border in the small town of Raton. Tonight we're at the Best Western and plan to start very early tomorrow morning..here are a few photos from Santa Fe.