While driving through New Mexico Tanya decided that she wanted to have Cracker Barrel one more time before we got to California. She brought out her Xoom and found a couple in Albuquerque. She brought out the street level view and it looked like they had a parking lot that would accommodate us, so we put it in the GPS as our dinner destination.
Even though it was a Cracker Barrel, I decided to bring my camera inside. You never know. Towards the end of our meal the manager came up, made some small talk then started talking about cameras. He wanted to know about my what hardware I had (Canon T1i with a Sigma 18-200mm) then asked if we were there for the hot air balloon festival. Well, if we were not before you can bet we were now. We found a hotel, dropped the dogs and trailer off, then headed to Balloon Fiesta Park. When we arrived the wind was pretty bad, it did not look good. Within minutes everything calmed down and the balloons filled up. On the way home we found a great little micro brewery, Chama River Brewing Company. Good food and great beer. It was the best Cracker Barrel stop ever.
These photos are from the 21st annual Kiwanis Hot Air BalloonFest at the Porter County Fairgrounds in Valparaiso, Indiana. I was here for last year’s event and enjoyed it thoroughly, so I hoped the weather would allow the event to go as planned. It was scheduled to be a two day event, September 9 and 10, however the weather on Friday did not look like it was going to cooperate, so I did not bother going there. Saturday was dry and not much wind, but the visibility was limited so the balloons did not seem to go as far as last year. I know one thing, I really want to go for a hot air balloon ride. I will add it to my bucket list.
Valparaiso Kiwanis 20th Annual Hot Air BalloonFest
Valparaiso, IN – September 11, 2010
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