In August each year the city of Long Beach Washington hosts a week-long kite festival that attracts kite enthusiasts from all over the world. It has been on our travel itinerary since our first visit in 1991.
Kite clubs like ours, called the Goat Hill Gang, set up camps on the beach with sun shelters and colorful banners. We take them down every evening and put them back up the next day. The clubs vie for the best sites so we have to get there very early to get a good one.
Large Figure Kites like these are spectacular. Most of these are limited-production commercial products and can cost several thousand dollars each but the one in the foreground is hand made by German artist Bernard Dingworth, one of the Featured Artists at this year's event.
Our little dog Mr. Zax loves the beach and his Uncle Rod. Rod lives in our home town of Costa Mesa California and is the leader of our club, with the title of Head Goat.
One of the events at WSIKF is a hand-crafted kite competition. Kite maker's entries are judged for design, craftsmanship, flight and visual appeal. My entry this year was a 6-foot tall cellular design.
It won first in category but was the only entry. I was quite pleased anyway.
Firehole Canyon NFS Site
We are always seeking quiet isolated camp sites in beautiful surroundings. This is one of them. It is Firehole Canyon, a National Forest Service site near Rockville Wyoming.
Callaway Kite Flight, Labor Day Weekend
Callaway is a tiny town of around 650 in Southern Nebraska that calls itself the Kite Capital of Nebraska.
For the past 20 years the town has hosted an annual Kite Flight that attracts people from all over the US and other countries. Its success has been largely due to the efforts of a local resident named Connie May. Connie passed away last year but Kite Flight lives on. The City is dedicating a public walkway in the City Park in her honor.
These are our friend Rod's banners, and one of mine on the right.
Rod came with a van full of his hand-made kites.
Carhenge
Just outside Alliance Nebraska is a wacky place called Carhenge. The creator of this unique sculpture is Jim Reinders. While living in England he had the opportunity to study the design and purpose of Stonehenge. His desire to copy Stonehenge in physical size and placement came to fruition in the summer of 1987 with the help of many family members.
Thirty-eight automobiles were placed to assume the same proportions as Stonehenge with the circle measuring approximately 96 feet in diameter. Some autos are held upright in pits five feet deep, trunk end down, while those cars which are placed to form the arches have been welded in place. All are covered with gray spray paint. The honor of depicting the heel stone goes to a 1962 Caddy.
"Ford Seasons", comprised only of Fords and inspired by Vivaldi's Four Seasons, suggests the Nebraska landscape's seasonal changes as wheat is planted, grows, is harvested, and then the field lies barren during a windy winter.
Additional sculptures have been erected at the site. One of the first to be added is this sculpture of a spawning salmon created by Canadian Geoff Sandhurst.
Oregon Trail
On our way to New Mexico for the Balloon Fiesta we found ourselves following the Oregon Trail, the route followed by the pioneers on their migration from Missouri to Oregon. One of the landmarks was Chimney Rock in Nebraska. In those days it was said to be squared off at the top, looking more like a fireplace chimney, but erosion has changed it. It is only about 650 feet high but can be seen for a long way on the plains.
The Pioneers had an expression; "Seeing the elephant". It meant that they were ready to give up and go back. For some that time came when they reached Scotts Bluff in Western Nebraska and realized they had come only 1/3 of the way.
Near Scotts Bluff we found this remote ranch campground. It was 6 miles off the highway on a dirt road and we were all alone there. In contrast to the hardships endured by the Pioneers our trip along the Oregon Trail in the RV is pretty soft but spending the night out there on land they had crossed gave us a small taste of what it might have been like.
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Fall in Rocky Mountain National Park means Elk rut, when the dominate bulls assemble their harems and make next year's calves.
The bulls are in their prime but have to be alert and work hard to maintain their dominance. They seldom sleep, and we heard their distinctive bugles day and night from our camp site above the meadow.
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, October 1 thru 10
This was our 5th consecutive year at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, and it was the best yet. Aside from being a little too warm the first few days the weather was just about perfect - lots of sun, no rain, and good winds. On most days the balloons flew right over the RV parking area so we got a good show without going anywhere.
They often landed in an open field in front of the RV.
Free shuttles took us to the launch field to watch the balloons being inflated and launched.
Where do the balloons go? We find out by following them by car.
Some come down in open fields around the city. Most landowners welcome them and leave their gates open so the chase crews can get in.
Others land in parks and other open space among homes,
and in shopping centers.
Cochiti Lake
After the Fiesta we moved about 25 miles North to Cochiti Lake, a Corps of Engineers reservoir with a very nice campground. We have a site with a great view, and it is peaceful and quiet after the hustle and bustle of the Fiesta. We will chill out here for a few days, then head back to California.
