Last year we had a reservation for a ride in a balloon, but it was cancelled due to rain. A big reason for coming to the fiesta again this year was to have another chance for a balloon flight.
This time, the weather was perfect, and we got to experience the ride. And it was indeed a very special experience.
We signed up for the VIP Ryders Club package, which included a shorter line, a breakfast, and some swag:
A boarding pass:
Heading to the balloon:
Our balloon:
Jenn helped hold up the balloon envelope while they used fans to start inflating it:
Hot air inflation:
Raising the balloon:
Getting into the basket:
Burners:
Selfie in the basket. I wore my 360 camera on my head; stay tuned for a timelapse video of our flight:
Liftoff:
Aerial views:
The north RV lot; you can see our coach next to the power pole near the center of the picture:
Another angle of the north RV lot and our coach:
Coming in for a landing:
Deflating the envelope:
Exiting the basket:
Bubbly celebration:
We landed very near the field; the van could have taken us back, but we opted to walk; the blue dot on this map screenshot is where we landed, and our coach was just above the middle of the word “Presbyterian”:
This ride was a magical, once-in-a-lifetime experience. We’re super glad that it worked out to do it this year.
Not every day during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has an evening session, basically around the weekends. The balloons don’t fly in evenings, but they still inflate for an evening glow.
The crowd on the concourse by the food and swag stalls:
We went to Macology for dinner:
They produce interesting variations on mac & cheese:
One of the vendors was Lectric Ebikes; we had Lectric bikes, but Jenn didn’t find hers comfortable, so we sold it. She is interested in getting a Lectric trike instead, so was pleased to be able to see and try one:
Jenn on the Lectric trike:
Back to balloons:
Fireworks:
Sand sculpture of balloons, in progress:
Long line for dinner:
I had a meat pie, Jenn had a zydeco bowl:
And some Dole soft serve for dessert:
Alpenglow:
Jenn with a collector card:
Even without flying, seeing the balloons inflated and glowing is still a magical experience.
While staying in Spearfish, South Dakota, and later while staying in Hot Springs, South Dakota, we visited several of the nearby scenic byways and towns in the Black Hills area, including Spearfish, Belle Fourche, Deadwood, Custer, and Hot Springs, amongst others. This post is a collection of some interesting pictures from this region. (Several big attractions of this area, including Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore National Monument, Custer State Park, Iron Mountain Road, and Wind Cave National Park, will be covered in separate posts.)
We really enjoyed the Black Hills area, and could see ourselves buying property here one day. Though we still have lots more of the country to see, so you never know!
Here’s an interactive map of the Black Hills area; part of it is in Wyoming, but the majority is in South Dakota:
Roughlock Falls Road, south of Spearfish:
Spearfish Canyon Highway:
Some mountain goats licking something on the road:
Another day, still there:
Custer:
Lunch at the Purple Pie Place:
Keystone:
Deadwood:
Hill City:
Dinner in Lead:
Dinner in Rapid City:
Belle Fourche:
Belle Fourche claims to be the geographic center of the US, when including Alaska and Hawaii:
Medora is perhaps most famous for the Medora Musical, a western themed outdoor musical variety show.
An optional but related part of it is the Pitchfork Steak Fondue, where they put steaks on pitchforks and dunk them in barrels of oil, plus BBQ-style buffet.
This was our second stay here, and we enjoyed it just as much as the first time. Once again, our site was in the newer creekside portion, and it’s still very nice. There is minor road noise, but pretty faint. The sites are level, and hookups are all good. We’ll definitely stay here again on our next trip through the area and try one of the back-in sites along the creek itself. We camped at Buffalo KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Crazy Woman Canyon is a fantastic drive. Tie Hack picnic area was a great spot to enjoy a bite to eat afterward.
The campground map:
Interactive map:
Our site:
Utilities:
Decoration:
Bridge:
Dog run:
Creek:
Video of the creek:
Group fire pit:
A path from the creek area, and other sites:
Four different Tiffin motorhome models; our Allegro Bus, a Phaeton, an Allegro Open Road, and an Allegro Red:
A nice KOA; our second stay here, and we’ll definitely stay here again in the future. If we were to stay here more than a few nights, one of the back-in sites in the Clear Creek loop would be delightful.
The campground was convenient for exploring Cody and the area. Our site was right next to the office and pancake area, which was nice. The angle to get our big rig out when we left was a little hairy, however. The trailers and smaller rigs in the site next to us usually backed out of their site to avoid the hard left turn around the dump station and propane fill area. Some of the turns in the park were also a bit difficult in a big rig, especially when folks at the ends parked their big trucks into the road. The site itself was level, and all the hookups worked. We camped at Cody KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Buffalo Bill Center of the West is a must-do. Head over to the Bighorn Canyon and Chief Joseph Scenic Highway for some amazing scenery. The Buffalo Bill Dam is also pretty cool.
The campground map:
Our site:
We went out for a scenic drive one day (see forthcoming post), but as we arrived back in town it started to rain heavily, with lightning in the area. When we arrived back at our site, we waited in our truck for several minutes while it rained and hailed heavily, before making a run for it when it eased up briefly:
The campground experienced some ground flooding:
Video of heavy rain, campground flooding, and lightning:
A screenshot of several nearby lightning strikes via the handy LightningMaps.org website:
Flooding:
All that water washed away the landscaping gravel:
Hail residue:
The campground entrance:
Gazebo by the entrance:
Office:
Pools:
Playground:
Jump pad:
Family room:
A nice feature of this KOA is free pancakes for breakfast every day, with sausages and other food available for purchase:
Speaking of food, some samples of other places we patronized in Cody; first up, More Burgers and Shakes:
A close-up of that bear decoration:
There are bears on the back of the bear:
Not overly impressive:
We had a lot of BBQ in Texas, so it was interesting to try Wyoming’s edition at Bubba’s Bar-B-Que; a bit different, but not bad:
Finally, some pizza at Tossers Pizza and Beer; decent pan-style pizza, but not the best:
We were planning to attend the famous Cody Nite Rodeo, but after reading the reviews on Yelp and elsewhere, we decided it wasn’t for us — overly religious, political jokes, sexist jokes, etc. It would have been painful. And apparently not good rodeo anyway.
But they kept trying to drum up customers, driving though the campground every day offering discount coupons:
And a bus to pick up people:
One of several occupants of our driver-side neighboring site, a small toy hauler trailer:
One section of the park has tight buddy sites:
Other sites:
A newer section, where it looked like a couple was shoveling the gravel to make it somewhat level for parking after the flooding:
We drove our coach 80 miles, about 2.5 hours of very scenic driving, from Yellowstone, Wyoming to Cody, Wyoming.
Here’s the map route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops; we had lunch at Newton Spring Picnic Site, and got some fuel at the Sinclair station:
We paused bringing in the slide to let the pooled rain drain off:
A GIF of checking the brake controller; the air brakes of the coach triggers this piston that pushes the brake pedal in our truck for proportional braking assistance:
Checking the truck lights:
Another check, moving the coach forward a couple of feet to engage the tow bar and make sure the truck wheels turn freely (reversing GIF):
Leaving the campground; starting the Bluefire app for coach info:
The coach GPS mistakenly said “No Recreational Vehicles Allowed” again inside the park:
Yellowstone Lake:
One of the last glimpses of a geyser:
And a bison:
And deer:
A very scenic drive on the way out of the park:
Leaving from the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park:
The scenic drive continues outside the park; rather Utah-like:
We stopped at Newton Spring Picnic Area for lunch:
A fuel stop at a Sinclair station; not needed, since only down a third of a tank, but gives us peace of mind, since there are no truck stops along this route, other than stations like this:
Unexpectedly, the fuel pump stopped at $75; 16 gallons doesn’t help much. So we did two of these to get mostly full:
