What a busy fun-filled weekend we had which was so suiting as it was our last weekend in our Arizona home. (insert sad face here) It started off on Friday with the Annual Veterans Parade. We went to the same parade last year and I found that this year wasn't as good as last year but we still enjoyed it.
I had to take this pic for Craig's dad as he loves trains
My all time favourite car
From there we met up with our friends Debbie and Art and headed over to see her sister/our friend Norma as she just got out of the hospital. She is doing amazing and looks great.
Here's Norma and Craig hamming it up for the camera
From left to right:
Debbie, Art, Craig and Delores
Debbie asked me if we saw the shrine at the Saint Thomas Yuma Indian Mission when we went and we didn't see it so after our visit with Norma and Delores we drove over to the mission. The shrine is tucked away on the side of the hill on the left of the mission and if you didn't know it was there you would totally miss it...like we did.
Since we were in the vicinity we drove through the Fort Yuma Quechuan Tribe again and took a couple more pics of the buildings and visited with a couple of local cats on the premises.
The shrine is built in the rocks on the side
of the mountain
Took another picture of the statue of Father Francisco Garces
The following 3 pics were taken on the reserve.
Gorgeous views from this old building
Absolutely love these old doors and windows
Massive archway to the entrance of this old building
Debbie, Art, Craig and myself headed to the Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival here in Yuma just before sunrise on Saturday. As per their website there were 30 balloons and pilots this year and the West Wetlands Park was the host on the Saturday and Sunday morning take offs. I have never been this close to hot air balloons and they are massive. We were up and out the doors before sunrise as that was when the first balloon took off as the American national anthem was sung. They couldn't of asked for a better day, hardly any wind, warm and sunny. It was interesting to watch them unfold their balloons, start the industrial fans, ignite the flame and sail off.
Morning sun peaking through the balloons
Beautiful weather for the balloons
As some were taking off others were getting ready
Well hello up there!
Up and away
You didn't know where to look as there were so many,
here's Debbie and Craig
This was supposed to be the final balloon to launch but
the winds changed and they aborted. This poor
fella was trying so hard to control the balloon
Had to take a pic of this young family as it was Dad's first
balloon launch and they were so excited
Debbie and Art watching the final balloon sail in the distance
We were home by 10:30am and that's after we stopped and had coffee and muffins. By 6pm we were off again, this time to the Desert Sun Stadium where the Glow was happening. Norma and Delores came along and our friend from Phoenix Cheryl and her friend Barb joined us as well.
You could walk through where the balloons were and every time they ignited that flame you could feel the heat. The announcer would yell out 5-4-3-2-1 and all the pilots would light up their balloons and they would glow in the dark. It was a sight to see as these colourful balloons would set the dark sky aglow.
I think this is my favourite pic of the evening
Not all balloons were present but I think I counted about a dozen
After the "Glow" we said our good-byes to Cheryl and Barb and made plans to meet up again the next day for Sunday Brunch. The remaining 6 of us carried on, this time to Cocopah Speedway to watch the sprint cars races. Much to our surprise a racer from our home province of Manitoba was there and won one heat, he came in 6th or 7th in the end. There were anywhere between 6-8 cars per race but at the end there were 24 cars and 30 laps around the track. We all kinda giggled to each other when we first sat down as the people in front of us had ear protectors on and safety glasses. WELL that bit us in the butt as when those 24 cars raced around the track the Arizona dust flew and I think we were all cleaning dirt out of places that we didn't think there would be any. Rookies...
After the races Debbie and Art came by and we played Rummy and had a few more laughs from our day's adventures.
And they're off
#82 was from Manitoba!
I have to back track a wee bit; the weekend before, Cheryl and Karen, friends I met from our GSP Group on Facebook come down from Phoenix to spend the day with us. We first met them a couple of years ago and were so happy to see them again. We met them for lunch at Mi Rancho and then came back to relax at the house and spend some time with Molly and Blitz as they have never met them.
Cheryl and Karen with Molly and Blitz
This past weekend Cheryl returned to Yuma as it was her friend Barb's birthday so we got to hang out with her again. Her friend Barb is a photography buff and knows of some good places to photograph some wild horses, burros and just down the street from where she lives a family of burrowing owls call it home. Their home is under a sidewalk and she said they come out first thing in the morning and again in the evening. Lucky for us they made an appearance before we left Barb's place. I'm thinking Barb and I (maybe Craig) will be driving out to places to do some photography next time we are down.
Here's Blitz giving Cheryl some lovin'
Cheryl with Molly and Blitz
Momma and 2 of her babies peaking out from under
the sidewalk...can it get any cuter than this?
Was a fabulous weekend to end our vacation here in our Southern Home. It was great to catch up with some old friends and meet a couple of new ones. We will cherish these friendships as it makes our time here that much more fun. We have already talked about when the next time we will all see each other and we will be looking forward to it.
We finished a lot of projects this time as well and we have really enjoyed the backyard and will keep on enjoying it and making more memories there in years to come. Mid-week we start our journey back to Manitoba where we will spend a couple of days with my mom and then in the city for a day before we fly out to our Northern Home. I'm thinking all of our bodies will need time to adjust as we haven't had a day here less than 30'c and CamBay is well below zero.
Talk soon!
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