a busy weekend

it has been a busy few days here in gallup, a state made all the more difficult by the fact that i spent saturday running on two hours of sleep and am pretty sure i was still drunk when i woke up at 7 am. which i am surprised i even managed considering we didn't make it to bed until 3. neither my liver nor my head was all too pleased with me, but the friday night comedy show was pretty fun. i just don't recover as quickly as i used to.


but why on earth was i getting up so early anyway?? this weekend was the red rock hot air balloon rally at red rock state park. i have to say, the mass ascension was definitely worth the pain of getting up. my only regret is that i wasn't able to make it to one of the glows because we had stuff going on both nights. i also never managed to climb all the way up the rocks (because i am a chicken shit and have a healthy fear of death) to meet some work friends, but in the end it worked out because i got some way better shots walking around on the ground. and the friend that said shooting into the sun was a bad idea... i have to disagree. it makes the balloons look like they are lit up!


and the 24-70L performed beautifully. this is a lens that i had constant access too back in the days of my ex and his truckloads of camera gear, and probably the lens i miss the most. it is a perfect range for so many different subjects and it takes beautiful pictures. it also costs a small fortune that i cannot yet afford; however, i have discovered the delightful concept of renting lenses. its very sad to have to part with it (i boxed it up this evening) but i enjoyed having it for 4 weeks at a fraction of the price.


i'm definitely glad i had it for the rally. and just to warn you, its going to be a picture heavy post because i just couldn't chose between them to narrow it down.

i never realized how giant the balloons were. it takes a team of people to get them all laid out and inflated. and the baskets are super tiny; they fit three people but it looks pretty cramped in there.

at first they sort of went up one at a time, and then all of a sudden there was just this rainbow of color all over the ground. there were some pretty neat ones too... like the ladybug on a sunflower (you can see it from the backside in the photo above) and a wicked witch, complete with hat and broom, and even humpty-dumpty, floating around on his head.

i've actually done quite a bit of picture taking in the last few days. there are some cute kids to share and a knitting project that is finally finished, but i will have to hold on to that one for a little while.