theboondork's RV blog

A serendipitous opportunity

12/4/2022

Click the pics, their full of hot air.

These are pictures that I took yesterday on what was supposed to be a "Mass ascension." But due to upper-level winds nobody actually ascended. And I'm afraid that the weather report was going to be the same again today. But they seem to enjoy taking there balloons out and playing with them so I assume they'll set everything up again, after all there must be a thousand people here to watch this so the least they can do is blow up there balloons and have their pictures taken.

When it got light enough to take pictures outside, I got in the truck and headed for downtown Gallup, driving down Route 66, so I would be sure and see whatever was left of the businesses on the original route 66.

I stopped in a few places and took pictures of old buildings and signs; I like old signs. Then, getting about breakfast time, I decided this would be a good chance to visit Cracker Barrel and see if it was busy; sometimes, Sundays are a tough day to get into a Cracker Barrel without a long wait. But it wasn't crowded, so I had their usual fine breakfast, after which I moseyed back to the truck, crawled in, cranked it up, and headed out to the interstate.

When I got to the interstate entrance where I could turn one way and go back East to Red Rock Park or West towards Arizona, I thought, why not just head for Arizona and some warm weather for a change? However, I only had a few seconds to decide whether to take the exit to the West, or to the East, and in that brief length of time, I told myself that I had everything with me in the Lance, and nothing was left behind. Furthermore, the weather report for the wind didn't look all that great, so they still might not be flying today, and that was the last event that was supposed to happen at Red Rock this weekend. So why not head West?

And head West, I did. And as soon as I merged onto the interstate, I felt a joy and a happiness that I hadn't thought about for a while; it was a feeling of freedom. I made that reservation for the balloon rally while I was in Denver in the middle of September. Ever since that day, I had someplace I had to be, and when I have someplace I have to be, I no longer feel free, and it seems like my life revolves around getting to that place at that particular time, and it bothers me. I guess that's why I don't make too many reservations to be someplace.

I know that's not normal because normal people don't live that way. It's not even normal for me; all my life, I've had to be someplace, and I always was not only on time but usually early.
But something happened to me when I went full-time, I wanted to be free for the first time in my life to come and go as I please, but unfortunately for me, reservations get in the way of all that.

I can always find a place to boondock, so that seldom bothers me. And living in the Lance opened up even more opportunities to boondock, so it looks like it's only events that will cause me to make reservations now and then. There's nothing I can do about that except maybe learn how to deal with reservations better than I do now... Freedom is a terrible thing to waste; we have so little of it in our lives.

Theboondork

It's not long before the first balloon arises up to its full height. The balloon has two methods of controlling it on the ground. One is the guy with the rope that is attached to the top of the balloon, he's keeping the balloon from moving back and forth too much. The other end of the balloon is tied to the trailer hitch on the pickup truck making sure it doesn't take off without anybody in it.

Some of the blooms are huge. Look at the people standing next to the balloons fingers.

Not everybody wants or needs a giant balloon with a basket that can carry half a dozen people. This guy has a smallish balloon, and he sits in a chair... I wonder if he has an ejection seat?

For some reason my blog won't let me post anymore pictures, and I had a few more that went with the balloon rally yesterday. Don't know why it's doing that, but it did, so I'll put a couple more balloon pictures tomorrow.

8 Comments

OFM

12/4/2022 04:53:51 pm

Freedom is a terrible thing to waste

That is a really fantastic thing to say and live by. Thank you for putting that out here .

The last 2+ years I have had several things cause me to stay at one place or another for much longer than I wanted. I am hoping that this session with my eyesight will be the last holdup for at least a few years again. Roll those wheels and giggle all the way to the next place. Thanks for keeping on blogging.

Tom

12/4/2022 05:54:32 pm

Well thank you Barney, that was a very kind thing to say.

I know it's hard to get away from a place you've been for a while, and the longer you stay the more difficult it is. It doesn't take long for familiarity to kick in, and you just don't want to leave a place that you know where the hardware store is, at least that's what I call being familiar with a place.

Then of course there's the fear of the unknown, because the next place may be unknown to one degree or another or at least unfamiliar. And a person can think of 100 reasons not to go to a place that's somewhat unfamiliar. Normal people stay with the familiar

All those are natural feelings for normal people, because normal people don't want to live on the road. They want to look out the window and see the familiar tree, with the familiar squirrel living in it, and the familiar families next door, it couldn't get more normal than that. And I have those feelings inside of me sometimes, so I guess deep inside of me there is a normal person that's been suppressed.

I figure there's a couple things that allow me to enjoy being on the move.

One is, I always find something to make me happy, even if things aren't going right I know something good will come of it, and I'm usually right.

Two, I enjoy being challenged. My thought is if you don't want to act like an old person, don't do what old people do. And old people usually don't go looking for challenges.

And three, stay out of the rut, or if you're in one, get out before it gets any deeper. There's not much difference between a grave and a rut, mostly the depth.

Tom.... Having toooo much fun heading for a place that's warm!

Judith

12/4/2022 07:54:16 pm

Very glad you're off schedule now. A wonderful place to be. You can go to where the impulse strikes. And I'm sure, with the Lance, you can end up somewhere to get a good night's sleep, and I hope it's off your usual path. You can strike out now. I hope you explore new places.
There are plenty out there.

12/4/2022 08:22:58 pm

It feels great not to have a schedule anymore, I don't know why it bothers me so much. Maybe it's because I value my newfound freedom so much that I resent anything that gets in my way of coming and going wherever I want, even though it's where I want to be like the balloon rally. I was really looking forward to the rally, and yet I felt that I was giving up some of my freedom to be someplace I WANTED TO BE! Weird, and I don't understand it myself.

I always get a good nights sleep, no matter how cold it is, I still sleep well. I think it's because I don't have any stress or worries that keep me awake at night. My only problems at night are barking dogs, and loud generators, those two things are the bane of my existence, and fortunately I don't have to deal with it very much.

I've been so many places in the three States that I spend most my time, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, that I've been to most places that are interesting. And I either like them, so I keep going back. Or I don't, so I have no desire to be there anymore, and I think Gallup New Mexico is one of those places that I have seen enough of. But sometimes going back to an old place that I've been before can look completely new with some different weather... And I'll write about that tomorrow.

Tom

Larry S Worsham

12/5/2022 05:29:48 am

"stay out of the rut, or if you're in one, get out before it gets any deeper. There's not much difference between a grave and a rut, mostly the depth."

You touched me with that one......Unfortunately life gives us paths that turn into a rut; health problems, family circumstances and complacency.

It causes one to self evaluate and ponder a change of direction.

SAFE TRAVELS!

12/5/2022 06:51:47 am

We're all different and the circumstances of our lives are different, and what some people call the good life others might call the worst life imaginable. I have bent and molded my life around what I enjoy, and I'll be the first to admit that it is neither normal nor suitable for anyone but me, in fact the way I live is so specific to the way I want to live it would be pretty uncommon for anyone else to want to live this way. So always keep that in mind when reading my blog.

I have been very fortunate in my life not to have the kind of problems that keep most people from living the way they want to live, and there again I understand that's not normal. Financial difficulties, health problems, and the need or desire to help others often prevents most people from living the kind of life that they would truly enjoy. But I've been blessed in my life by accidentally stumbling into some financial situations that worked out well for me, very few health problems, and a streak of selfishness a mile wide.

Two of those things have given me the ability to live exactly the way I want to live, and that streak of selfishness allows me to do so without guilt or self doubt.

Tom

Linda

12/5/2022 02:48:35 pm

I don't think I've ever been "normal". I see that as a good thing.

12/5/2022 04:29:04 pm

Since you're a boondocker that automatically takes you out of the normal category. And since you hung around "Q" that puts you in a category shared only by a few.

Tom

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A serendipitous opportunity

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