Balloon Festival - Alamogordo

Day One at White Sands National Monument was a total bust. We woke up early planning to leave at 7 for an 8am launch. When I looked out our west windows at 6:30, I saw something different. Not only were the white lights of the runway on (ten miles), but further west was this unusual line of red lights. Grabbing the binoculars, we realized those were tail lights from a huge line of cars waiting to get into the Park.  We ended up in the line at 7 and didn't get into the park until 8:15. The winds were too high and from the wrong direction so they only filled 3 balloons and didn't launch any. I shouldn't say it was a total bust. Driving out to the White Sands in a convertible was fun.

Day Two at the Alamogordo Balloon Park was phenomenal. We weren't too sure if they would launch because of the wind. Once again we used those binoculars. [We keep them by the window just in case.] Once Mark saw one balloon inflate, we headed down to the Balloon Park, which during the rest of the year we call the Shelby Frisbee catching park. The pictures speak for themselves.

Love this guy's tongue!

Flying off to the landing site.

An appearance by local celebrity, Smokey Bear.
The original Smokey was found in those mountains in the background. 

Yes, that is the moon

That's Alamo canyon (where we live) in the background.
You can see why we could use the binoculars to see what was going on.

Playing in the Rain

It's monsoon season here in Alamogordo and I went out and played in the rain. This creek bed has been bone dry since early November. I was trying to capture movement of the water and contrasting it with some stop motion. Water was wet and delightfully chilly. I was happy to sacrifice a pair of running shoes (at least until they dry out).

There are hearts everywhere in the desert. 

Including another one in one of these pictures. Can you find it? 

Hint: The heart is in this picture.