http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress Rich, Eleanor and Emma travel North America full-time in their Airstream trailer Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:05:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en With great regret, I'm closing the Tour of America blog today.   This blog was started to document our 6-month voyage in an Airstream trailer, back in October 2005.   The trip exploded into a life-changing experience of three years, and I have to admit that it got way beyond ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1807 We're in Tucson, and our full-time travels are over. I could tally it by the numbers (75,000 miles, three years, 45 states, three countries, hundreds of stops, 31,000 photographs), but of course that doesn't tell the full story. The adventure has ended with neither a bang nor a whimper.   It has ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1802 Our last(?) stop before Tucson is an assignment I've given myself, for the magazine.     There's a little airpark in the very remote town of Rodeo NM, where a group of "Sky Gypsies" fly light sport aircraft from a 7200 ft packed dirt airstrip.   While I like flying, ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1797 From Albuquerque south we made very few stops yesterday.   We paused for lunch and a water fill at a truck stop along I-25, then for chiles in Hatch, and not much else.   It's a peculiar feeling to know that we are headed somewhere to stop indefinitely, and I ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1795 We've left the Balloon Fiesta to roam down I-25 into southern New Mexico somewhere.   We left on a high   note: This morning the balloonists were competing to play a form of aerial poker, where they dropped things onto "playing cards" on the field in an attempt to make ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1788 I can see why hot air ballooning is so popular.   You get to fly, in a beautiful object, on a beautiful day, and play with fire.   People always look up and admire your aircraft.   Balloonists are so venerated that they have carte blanche to land almost anywhere ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1787 Apparently I startled a few people by casually mentioning that this blog will end in about a week.   I've talked about this on and off for the past year, but never declared a firm end date until now.     Here's the official announcement:   After the Balloon Fiesta, ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1786 Yesterday we met with 28 other Airstreams at the Camping World on I-40, and the entire line of aluminum caravanned together to the Balloon Fiesta Park on the north side of Albuquerque.   From a gravel lot overlooking the Balloon Fiesta field, we will spend four nights watching all things ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1785 We're heading out this morning to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta! Yesterday we took a daytrip to El Malpais National Monument and El Morro National Monument, both of which are about 30-40 miles south of Grants.   El Malpais is a large area of volcanic origin, with lava tube caves, cinder ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1784 Our great Four Corners circle tour is coming to an end.   Over the past month we've wandered from Great Sand Dunes NP to Silverton CO, Mesa Verde NP, Hovenweep, Natural Bridges, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Kanab, Grand Canyon, Page AZ, Navajo Nat'l Mon., Canyon de Chelly, and finally here ... http://tour.airstreamlife.com/wordpress/?p=1783