Up, Up & Away
September 24, 2008
Dustin and I went on a 3 day DFW tour a few weeks ago – going from here to there, driving a lot, talking a lot and spending a little time with a lot of people we love, but don’t get to see that often. In short, we left on a Thursday evening after work, arrived in Granbury (my home town) a little before 2am, stayed the night at Nanny & Papaw’s house on the lake, visited with my Aunt Kay & Uncle Garry, spent Friday night at my mom’s house, traveled to Fort Worth Saturday afternoon, headed to Plano later that day and ended in Lewisville where we stayed at Dustin’s brother’s apartment for the evening – and that’s only Friday & Saturday. Sunday, we were back on the road headed toward San Antonio after a short but lovely stop in West, Texas to help my Grandma Urby celebrate her birthday, my Uncle Raymond celebrate his 50th birthday, and my Aunt Tina & Uncle Raymond celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. As you can see, it was a trip filled with lots of family and fun…but I digress from the topic of this post.
One of the many highlights of that weekend was attending the Plano Balloon Festival with my best friend from high school (Renee) and her fiancé (Adam), Mo (my friend from college), and Drew & Anne (Dustin’s brother & his fiancé). I have always wanted to attend a hot air balloon festival and had high hopes that this one would be a great first experience. The festival boasts lots of balloons, food and activities and it didn’t disappoint. Although we had planned to arrive at 5pm to see the evening balloon launch, we were just a tad-bit late due to horrendous traffic around the event. We did however get to see several balloons gracefully float over us as we parked and walked into the festival grounds.
Afternoon launch @ the Plano Balloon Festival
Maureen @ the Plano Balloon Festival
After a ¾ mile walk to the grounds, we browsed vendors, grabbed some carnival food (hand dipped corn dogs and dip-n-dots –YUM!) and made our way to the grassy knoll to watch the main event, the evening balloon glow. Right at dusk, the balloons started to go up (meaning they were being blown up, not taking off) and they were all shapes and sizes…there were several traditional balloon shapes, a daisy, a dinosaur, a pirate head complete with a patch on his eye, a panda bear and even a tree trunk with parrots resting on its branches. It was astounding to see the monstrous size of these balloons (the pictures don’t do them justice) and to see them all in one area at the same time. The actual ‘glow’ started right after sundown and was quite a spectacle. There was a countdown and then a period of about 10 seconds when all the balloons lit up using their flames inside the balloon – SPECTACULAR! As dusk disappeared the colors of the balloons got more vibrant and the glow became livelier. They did several lightings with countdowns similar to what I described before…they also did several kaleidoscope glows where all the balloons turned their flames on and off quickly to create a blinking effect – very cool. They even set some of the glows to music and used some flames without balloons attached to show the magnificence of the flame itself. I can’t describe what a neat experience it was to see all of this. I can’t wait for my next hot air balloon festival (I’m hoping for Albuquerque in 2009 – it’s the biggest balloon festival in the US with over 600 balloons!).
Our group @ the Plano Balloon Festival - Maureen, Me, Dustin, Renee & Adam
The night ended with great food and continued fellowship with our other friends, Anne & Justin. In all, an awesome trip with awesome people. Check out a few of the videos of the glow below – or go here to see more pictures from the festival.
The elusive birthday gift
September 14, 2008
After waiting patiently for 3 full weeks, Dustin finally got to ‘open’ his birthday gift from me this weekend. To celebrate his 30 years on this earth, we took to the sky — each taking 30 minute rides in powered tricycles. After takeoff, we climbed to 5,000 feet! We enjoyed the countryside, flew with and through several clouds and even got to take our turn flying the trikes by ourselves. It was an Incredible Journey that we will not soon forget.
Flying high above the clouds
New home, new season, new gear, what fun!
September 2, 2008
Dustin’s grandparents, Nanie & Papa, hosted us at their beautiful new home this past weekend (technically it’s a year old, but <ashamed> Dustin and I hadn’t been to see it yet) and what a time we had visiting, eating, watching football, eating, teaching (new computer skills for Nanie), and eating. We were able to take off work a little early on Friday and were in College Station by about 6pm that evening. After being welcomed by a delicious Mexican lasagna dinner and homemade pecan pie, chocolate cake and oatmeal cookies, we hung out and caught up with everyone (Dustin’s uncle JoeD and family friend Scott were in town as well) — it was really nice talking and hearing what every one has been up to. Saturday morning was spent shopping for new ‘gear’ (aka football shirts and hats to wear to the game) and preparing for the evening. By 3:30, we were on campus with the crowds awaiting the first game of the season (game wasn’t until 6pm) — Papa took us to the Letterman’s Lounge (a special club type area where past lettermen congregate before home football games – Papa lettered in baseball in the ’50s) and then we had a bbq lunch with several of his ‘old’ Ag friends — how neat it was to see these men still meeting and keeping in touch after 50 years of playing sports together!! After lunch we toured the A&M Athletic Hall of Fame and then found our seats about 45 minutes prior to the game. We sat on 10 yard line about 26 seats up from the field — pretty close. Although the Ags lost (basically in the last quarter), the experience was awesome and it was fun hanging out with Papa. Sunday consisted of more good food – JoeD and his son Jason whipped up a huge traditional breakfast – more catching up and then the long road trip home. In all it was an awesome trip and we can’t wait for our next visit!
Top left going clockwise: Nanie & Papa (our wonderful hosts), Dustin & Papa, picture of Papa's 1951 Aggie Baseball team hanging in the A&M Athletic Hall of Fame (he's the first one on the 2nd row), Dustin, me & Papa at the game.
