The Rovin’ Pebbles are turned into Martians!
Michael Zeman
On Wednesday, October 1 several members of the Rovin’ Pebbles RV Club took off on our Sky, Space, Outer Space themed caravan. The rest joined us in Albuquerque. With everyone reuniting over a pizza dinner, we had a presentation from fellow PebbleCreeker Bill Armstrong. Bill is a hot air balloon pilot offering services like these hot air balloon rides Napa for example, and was there for the Balloon Fiesta with his balloon, Band of Gold, to be part of the Dawn Patrol. Bill told us all about hot air ballooning and the Fiesta in general. All attendees received a collector pin replicating his balloon but with an RV depicted in lieu of the passenger basket.
For the next several days we camped at Fiesta Park enjoying the Balloon Fiesta in whatever manner suited each person. Some would head over to the launch field. Some would stay in the RV lot where several balloons were kind enough to land nearby so we could crew with them. In the off hours, we took in local sightseeing or just hanging out together playing games, eating and laughing at our party site.
Some members headed back to PebbleCreek while the remainder headed off to Las Cruces for the Space and Outer Space portions of the trip. One day was spent in Alamogordo at the Space History Museum where the docent explained about space travel, rockets, Ham the Astrochimp, land speed records and other related subjects. After lunch we were lucky enough to be one of the few people allowed to roam their storage building where parts received from NASA and other sources are stored, restored/repaired, or made into museum exhibits.
While it wasn’t feasible to travel to Roswell for the outer space portion of the caravan, the wagon masters brought Roswell to them with an alien theme party. Guests were greeted with the materials needed to make antennae reminiscent of the old television show My Favorite Martian. Flingers were used to knock down alien balloons or sometimes to shoot at each other. The dinner menu was rockets and flying saucers. Hot dogs were skewered vertically and burgers were larger than their buns. Dessert was moon pies. And themed candy such as Milky Way bars, Starburst, Zero (gravity) and Orbit gum decorated the tables.
To bring the group back down to earth, literally, our last day was a trip to the New Mexico Ranch and Farm Museum. Not only were there several types of animals, we were treated to blacksmith and milking demonstrations. After the tram ride of the grounds, the docent led us into their museum and galleries. There was so much to see we could have spent even more time there.
As all good things must come to an end, we headed home with an overnight stop in Benson and our final group dinner. The group also finished the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta puzzle we started back in Albuquerque without losing any pieces during the various location moves. Even the puzzle was a blast!