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Waco Texas to Galveston

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Waco Texas to Galveston Texas is a big state with lots of miles in between our stops. After leaving Roswell NM we had two full days of driving to get to our first destination, Waco, Texas. We learned that the Chisholm Trail came through this part of Texas The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from  ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. Cattle were driven along the trail and brought across the Brazos River over this toll bridge in Waco https://wacohistory.org/items/show/24 We also visited the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Museum And then we had to see the newest tourist attraction in Waco The Silos at Magnolia Market.... created by Chip and Joanna Gaines of HGTV Fixer Upper Fame! What was once an old 20,000 sq. ft. barn and a couple of cotton seed grain silos in the  old downtown was transformed in 2015 into the Silos at Magnolia Market With more than 30,000 visitors a
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The Very Large Array and Roswell

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The Very Large Array and Roswell NM The Very Large Array, one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories, consists of 27 large radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin,  fifty miles west of Socorro New Mexico.  ( that's about 25 miles past the middle of nowhere ) The antennas are distributed along the three arms of railroad track, shaped in a Y configuration, (each of which measures 13 miles from the center of the Y (configuration A). In the photo above the dishes are in configuration D which places them stretching only .4 miles  from the center of the Y.  Using the rail tracks that follow each of these arms—and that, at one point, intersect with U.S. Route 60 at a level crossing—and a specially designed lifting locomotive, the antennas can be physically relocated to a number of prepared positions Each of the antennas is 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. The data from the antennas is combined el
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Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

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Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta We originally had reservations to see the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in 2017 but Hurricane Irma hit south Florida on Sept. 10 of that year delaying our departure by approximately 4 weeks. Two years later we are finally here The Balloon Fiesta is a nine-day event occurring in the first full week of October, and has 600 hot air balloons each year. The event is the largest balloon festival in the world. The first year for this Balloon Fiesta was 1972 with a small number of balloons.   The number of registered balloons reached a peak of 1,019 in 2000, prompting the  Balloon Fiesta Board to limit the number to 750 starting in 2001. C iting a desire for "quality over quantity" and the limited number of landing zones in the growing city,  the maximum balloon limit was lowered to 600 in 2009.  On any given day during the festival, up to 100,000 spectators may be on the launch field In 2015, the fies
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Heading to Albuquerque

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On Our Way To Albuquerque  With just under two weeks until the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta we have about 1100 miles to cover to get there. So we made a quick two night stop in the Flaming Gorge area of Utah Came across this... display in a country store way out in the country. The things you see on the road, right? Moved on to Vernal Utah where we went to Dinosaur National Monument An actual dinosaur skeleton on display. Millions of years ago a great river flowed through this area with a sharp bend where  this desert hillside is today.  Over time, as water levels rose and fell, and dinosaurs died, their bones were swept away  and deposited in the river bank here leaving this large collection of bones. Although many bones and full skeletons have been removed and shipped all over the country  there are still over 1500 actual dinosaur bones here in the hill side. Back in Vernal Utah it was time to have a little service
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