Texarkana

Today is a monumental day for me. I am in Texarkana. Texarkana is where The Bandit from Smokey and the Bandit picked up 400 cases of Coors beer and had to truck it over state lines to the Texas Southen classic truck race, or something crazy like that. Much to my liking I got my first ride in a true real Big Rig Mack truck!!!

The views out here have been pretty wild driving through Texas. I have never seen so many wind mills or oil rigs in my life. Very interesting seeing one of the sources of environmental issues in the same field with a green solution.

At this point we haven't seen to many amazing sights that can compare to the balloon fest, but I did see this really sweet billboard in Texas. It was awesome. Look for more updates as I continue to take photos.

Fall Tour 2009

October 7th started my first official tour with the United States Army Field Band, The Volunteers. Our first stop was in Albuquerque NM for the International Balloon Fiesta. This was by far one of the most wild things I have ever seen. Hundreds of Balloons littered the sky making it seem like the city was being invaded.

The band played for the Friday night glow where the balloons were tethered to the ground and they would make them glow by firing the heaters. This was followed by a great fireworks display. The band was very well received on Friday night and definitely gained some new fans. We also played Saturday morning for what was called the Mass Ascension. 550 balloons were launched started as early as 6:00am. The earlier launches were in the dark. Watching the balloons disappear into the sky lighting up the early morning darkness was incredible.

Now the band is on the road to Truth or Consequences NM. So far my first tour with the volunteers is off to a great start.