We were going to take our boat out early tomorrow morning (8AM), but something has come up. It's called a local Festival that includes up to 30 Hot Air Balloons ascending tomorrow morning and Sunday. Haven't seen any Hot Air Balloons since 2008, when we lived in North Carolina. When we lived in Colorado before, each year we go to a Hot Air Balloon Festival by a local lake/reservoir. Actually, one year, we got up at 5AM, hooked up our old boat and headed to the reservoir. Along with numerous other boaters, we launched and were in the No Wake Area when the Balloons launched. Some came right over our boat! It was quite the sight for us. Then, that night, we were there for The Glow. That's when they fill each Balloon, keep it tied to the ground and do the "Glow" with flames going into the Balloon. That was a sight also. A Hot Air Balloon ascend, descend and Glow are something to see! Other than the Festival, unless we still take our boat out, nothing else going on. Well, not exactly "nothing else going on" since there will be live rodeos we can watch on tv.
No get aways here, unless you count the back yard to do a bit of barbecuing. When I was younger, still living at home, we would always go to the Fair with my parents and a few of their friends and kids and spend the day. We would have a picnic basket loaded with food, spread a few blankets on the ground and eat before continue on to see a concert or viewing other exhibits. Those kind of days are long gone. If we were to go out on the lake to do a little fishing or boating, as we have done in the past, we would have all the jet skiers and speed boats with loud music blaring, and zipping so close by that it rocks the sh*# out of the boat. Most have no lake or boating etiquette. So we just stay at home and be cantankerous old people.
We don't like to go anywhere that has any "distance" to it, on any holiday weekend. Fortunately, this Festival is close by us. May be the last time for me to take pictures of Hot Air Balloons, since we will be moving out of Colorado next year. As far as boating goes, if we want to "open our boat up", as in get some speed going, we go around the lake in a circular motion. If there are those that want to sit in the middle of that lake, instead of being in the No Wake Area, then they have to put up with the boats that pulling skiers, tubes, wakeboards or merely cruising the lake. The No Wake Area is for boaters that want to fish and/or relax. As far as music goes, you probably wouldn't want to ride with us. We have Van Halen, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, AC/DC, Joan Jett and other "Rockers" blaring on our boat stereo. Not real loud, but loud enough.
The Hot Air Balloon launch was great! Went to a city about 15 miles east of us and boy is it growing. Sort of stunned, but a lot of folks showed up for the launching. Didn't realize just how many people lived in Windsor, CO. IOW, a whole lot! No food vendors at the launching, so we stopped at iHop for breakfast. The rest of the weekend, basically nothing due to very high heat. Stayed inside with the A/C on and keeping cool. Generally, by the end of next month, October, we will have snow flying. Funny, but neither wife nor I, had ever seen outdoor Halloween decor covered in snow, but here we sure have.
We don't like to travel on holidays anymore. Too much traffic and many people driving are too uptight now.
Well, where we live, even an older Senior has to drive 15 to 20 mph over the speed limit...........in order to drive! So many young folks here drive so, so fast. They have turned the area into a very fast-paced city that definitely wasn't before. A bigger problem, our city P.D. is too small to take care of this and other problems.
Probably just as well, I know that if you set me on a blanket on the ground, you'd need a fork lift to get me back up. I haven't enjoyed a fair as an adult. But it is sad that more lakes don't have wake rules and no motor rules. The small ones around here do. I have developed cantankerous into an art form. We could form a club