Monday, August 13, 2012

Unforgettable Blogfest and Supportive Blogger Extraordinaire Winner

Siv at Been There, Done That is hosting the Unforgettable Blogfest. “Post about some strange and unusual place or person you have visited. A place or person that has left a lasting impression, one that you cannot forget.”

I have met so many wonderful people on my journey through life and been fortunate to visit much of the USA and four foreign countries. I’ve selected two very memorable moments in my life.

First involves the four years we lived in New Mexico. Albuquerque is host to the ABQ International Balloon Fiesta and features two weekends of the mass ascension of 600-700 balloons. We went every year and the sight of that many balloon taking off at once was breathtaking.



We even got to step inside one balloon as it was being inflated.


My other moment is our trip to Inverness in Scotland. We took a tour around Loch Ness, truly a magical place, and stood at the spot most featured in Loch Ness Monster specials. It was the highlight of the trip and a dream come true!

(Yes, Spunky used to be a blonde. And it was freezing that day.)


Supportive Blogger Extraordinaire Contest!

And the winner is…


And his nominator…

DL Hammons of Cruising Altitude!

Both men receive a $25 Amazon gift card and his choice of free ebooks of all my titles OR two print copies.

Thank you to all who voted, nominated, and to the other two final round nominees, Roland Yeomans at Writing in the Crosshairs and Misha Gericke at My First Book.

38 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing your story! What a incredible site that must have been! I love air balloons and always wanted to go up in one. Congrats to the Supportive Blogger Extraordinaire, not surprised because this man has some kind of magic in his veins :)

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Congrats to Alex! He's such a great guy. :)

Love hearing about your special experiences!

shelly said...

Good for Alex! The Santa Claus of the blogosphere deserves presents, too.

And the balloons were beautiful. That had to be awesome in real life.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Siv, I've been in one tethered, but never went into the air.

Shelly, it was amazing. I really miss the Balloon Fiesta.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Congrats to the winners. You've visited a lot of neat places. I hope to visit Loch Ness someday.

StratPlayerCJF said...

Awesome experiences! I loved the pictures of the balloon fiesta, and Loch Ness is extremely cool!

Congratulations to Alex! (and to DL, too)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Great photos!
Thanks to everyone who voted - I'm so humbled. And thank you for hosting this contest.
Congratulations, DL - you rock!

Karen Lange said...

Thanks for sharing the photos and story. That pic of all the balloons is wonderful.

Congrats to Alex and DL! Have a great week!

Bish Denham said...

Alex and DL deserve the wins. Congratulations!

I'd LOVE to go see the balloons take off, ride in one too. And Scotland is the one place I really, really, really, want to go visit.

~Sia McKye~ said...

Congrats to Alex and Don!

Diane, I lived for many years in the Sonoma Wine Country. Balloons were big out there too and they ARE awesome up close. Amazing and beautiful.

Sia McKye's Thoughts...OVER COFFEE

Nancy Thompson said...

Those are spectacular photos!! What totally cool places! And I just knew Alex would win. Everyone loves him!

Anonymous said...

Wow! A blonde Spunky. This was worth stopping by today.

baygirl32 said...

That would be quite the sight all those balloons.

congrats Alex!

Unknown said...

Congrats to Alex! And those do look like extraordinary moments to me.

Roland D. Yeomans said...

The big kid in me loved the Teddy Bear hot air balloon! I envy you going to those ballon fiestas! And going to Scotland. You look quite different as a blonde!

Alex was the only true choice. I'm very happy he won. He was quite gracious to nominate me. Hats off to all of us bloggers who try to make the cyberverse friendlier, especially you, Diane.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Susan, it's brimming with magic.

Bish, you need to go.

Sia, they are just unbelievable up close.

Stephen, I bleached my red hair for 17 years.

Thank you, Roland. You were deserving of the nomination. That teddy bear balloon photo is one my husband's favorites and we have a 16x20 of it in our living room.

Jemi Fraser said...

Congrats to Alex & DL :)

What great experiences - those balloons are magical!

cleemckenzie said...

It's always cold in Scotland ... and wet! Part of the charm.

Congratulations the winners! That's great.

Thanks for stopping in at Bish's blog to leave a comment during my visit there. Appreciated it.

Misha Gerrick said...

Always loved hot-air balloons, but never went up in one.

Congrats to Alex, our true Supportive Blogger Extraordinaire! :-)

Emily R. King said...

Congrats to Alex!!!

M Pax said...

Great for Alex and DL.

My niece once wanted to go to Scotland to hunt for Nessie. Looks like a magical place. Neat to stand inside a balloon.

Arlee Bird said...

Congratulations to Alex and DL.

Those are two great memories. I guess I could have done that blogfest on my memoir blog, but I missed it. So many events happening that it's difficult to keep up with them.


Lee
Wrote By Rote

dolorah said...

Those are wonderful moments. Fantastic; I would have loved to be there to see the balloons.

Congrats to the supportive winners :)

........dhole

Heather M. Gardner said...

Wonderful job Alex and DL! Two of my favorites!
HMG

Michael Di Gesu said...

Congrats ALEX and DL!!!


Beautiful pics L. Diane. I can certainly see why these moments are so special to you.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Congrats ALEX and DL!!!


Beautiful pics L. Diane. I can certainly see why these moments are so special to you.

Summer Ross said...

Wow- truly beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

Unknown said...

Wow, I love that balloon ascension that is amazing. And that picture of blonde you by Loch Ness is awesome. :)

Congrat to Alex and D. L. Both are pillars of the community as are Roland and Misha. We are the better for them being here. And thank you for doing this wonderful award. You do a ton to support the rest of us as well.

Ciara said...

Congratulations to Alex!!

Anonymous said...

CONGRATS to Alex!

Cool balloon pictures.

Mina Burrows said...

Alex rocks! I'm not surprised with this one at all. :)

Unknown said...

I'd love to go up in a hot-air balloon. My brother did once but fell out of it (when it was landing!!). Loch Ness is really a special spot. Thanks for sharing!

LD Masterson said...

Congratulations to Alex and DL. Well deserved.

Funny thing - riding in a hot air balloon and visting Loch Ness are both on my "someday" list. Thanks for reminding me.

nutschell said...

what a great blogfest! I love the pictures you have here. I'm half expecting to see the lochness monster poking her head out on the lake behind you :)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

DL Hammons said...

Awesome experiences! Scotland is very high up on my gotta visit places.

And CONGRATS Alex! So VERY much deserved! :)

Michelle Wallace said...

Oooo... I can imagine those balloons all rising into the atmosphere... must've been something else...
Congrats to the Ninja Captain. He is SO deserving of the award!

Trisha said...

Big congrats to Alex & DL, they are both great people!

Jai Joshi said...

That balloon festival looks amazing.

I've been to Loch Ness too! It's truly unforgettable.

And you look great as a blonde and as a red head!

Jai