Mesquite Hot Air Balloon Festival & Glow

Our pilot Judy, from Arizona, has never been to the hot air balloon festival in Mesquite, NV before but this year she was able to get in and so Tony & I plus all our favorite crew came to help her with her balloon. Our friend Kylee and her family, Pat & Joyce and Hubert from the Netherlands! Great group of people I am so blessed to know.

Tethered Rides on Sunday

Sunday was luckily a bit warmer of a morning but still had a chilly start to it. It was fun to watch all the balloons take off from the field - glad for another day with weather good enough for the balloons to fly safely. I love this pic because you can see the shadow of our balloon there on the ground.

Rhyolite Ghost Town

Welcome to Rhyolite, Nevada, a Ghost Town which is on the east edge of Death Valley and 120 miles from Las Vegas. We were able to stop and explore it on our way home from Pahrump. This place has been on my "go-to" list for a few years, ever since I saw someone post about it on Instagram.

Big Dunes

We passed a sign for Big Dunes on our way to Rhyolite and I figured these dunes were better than going to no dunes so we went down the road to this area which I guess is not technically part of Death Valley National Park. 

Mesquite Balloon Festival - Day 2

Day 2 of Mesquite and I got to fly! My pilot friend Kurt took me up in his balloon and it was so super cool.

Mesquite Night Glow

I finally remembered to wear my light up shoes to a balloon event. Most of the time I forget because I am not in a good habit or they are not charged. These are $10 shoes from a county fair we went to and they aren't perfect but they are all right for now.

Valley of Fire State Park

 

WE FINALLY MADE IT TO VALLEY OF FIRE!

Yes, I'm shouting. Yes, I'm that excited about checking this place off my bucket list.

Mesquite Balloon Festival - Day 1

Tony and I have never taken the opportunity to go to Mesquite, NV for their hot air balloon festival but 2019 was the year we made it happen. Woohoo! Our first balloon event to kick off the new year and it went oh so well.

Reno Balloon Races - Day 2

Saturday was another amazing weather day for all the balloons to fly. The sunrise was beyond amazing too, and funny how it was only super legit on Saturday. Friday and Sunday were nothing to shout about. Check it out...

Pahrump Hot Air Balloon Festival

I have been dying to go to a new hot air balloon festival and when I found one in Pahrump which is only a few hours away, I knew we had to make it happen. It was tricky because of weather and we ended up not being able to camp but overall I am so glad we went!

Logandale Hiking

Photo by Tony Hoxsie

It felt so good to get out and go for a hike with my friend Kylee and her son and her aunt came too. I haven't gotten to go on a hike for quite awhile it feels like so I was really excited that it worked out to go with them.

The Road to Idaho

We headed out Thursday when Tony was able to take off from work to start driving to Idaho for his family reunion. Since we live so much farther away now, we break up the drive by staying in Carson City, NV for a night with my friend Heather and her cute family.

Seven Magic Mountains

 

Tony saw this on a drive to and from Salt Lake to Ridgecrest and I was able to Google and find out a little more about it online. It's called Seven Magic Mountains and it's in Jean, NV about 10 miles south of Las Vegas.