[225/365] Dawn Patrol, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Every morning of the Fiesta, before the Mass Ascension, several balloons go up into the sky for "Dawn Patrol". The purpose is for them to make sure that conditions are set for hundreds of balloons to go up all at once. This was an HP-sponsored about ready to lift off!

[224/365] Fireworks Show, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

After the night glow was cancelled due to strong winds, the Fiesta organizers proceeded with the fireworks show. The sky lit up with bursts of fireworks and suddenly, towards our left, the firewords continued, seemingly coming from the ground. I quickly turned the camera left and it created this effect on a 20 second exposure shot.

[223/365] White Sands National Monument, White Sands, New Mexico, USA

It's amazing the amount of things you can do in a short period of time if you really make the effort! From Albuquerque, the drive was about 4 hours south, but we were happy we did it. The White Sands National Monument is 265 square acres of bright white sand dunes. The dunes are made of gypsum crystals, so even in the hot sun, they don't absorb heat and remain cool year round! We walked up and down the dunes and looked out to miles more of these white sand dunes. Beautiful.

[222/365] Rainbow Ryders Hot Air Balloon in the Sky, Albuquerque International Balloon FIesta, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Waking up at 3:30am (2:30am Pacific time) never felt more worth it! It was amazing to watch each balloon lift up into the sky, bursts of fire creating the hot air to take the balloon up. Did I ride on a hot air balloon? No, it would have cost 350 dollars per person, and I was so amazed with everything else that I'm not regretful that I did. This Rainbow Ryders company was the only official balloon company to actually lift off from the Fiesta field -- all the people in there were ones that paid for the ride. Most of the other balloons that lifted off mainly just had the pilot and a few others associated with the balloon.

[221/365] Morning Mass Ascension, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

My attempts at attending the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta have been three years in the making! Third time's a charm, finally made it there and it was so worth it! We woke up at 3:30am New Mexico time to make it out to the field for the Dawn Patrol, a set of balloons that take off before sunrise in order to test conditions. By around 6am, balloons started lifting off all over the field all around us for the Mass Ascension. There are at least 500 balloons that are on display, flying high in the sky. They were all a multitude of different patterns and shapes. It was so beautiful! Many more pictures from New Mexico to come. It was a great weekend!

[220/365] Star Lantern at San Antonio Winery, Los Angeles, California, USA

This was a lantern hanging inside the gift shop of the winery that we saw as we were waiting for the tour to start. Such intricate details!

[219/365] Macaroons from Bay Cities Italian Deli, Los Angeles, California, USA

They tasted just okay, but they just looked so cute. I love the pastel colors! Just had to set up a little photo shoot. :P

[218/365] Outdoor Bike Display, Downtown, Houston, Texas, USA

Earlier this year, I spent a fun-filled weekend in Texas. On my first day, we went around Houston. Downtown, there was an outdoor display of these bikes adorned with all sorts of recyclables, painted in a multitude of colors.

Have a great weekend! GO BRUINS! :D Beat Texas!

[217/365] Lemons, Watsonville, California, USA

 When life give you lemons, make lemonade...or cut up pieces of lemon for your Corona. :P

Goodbye Summer, hello Autumn! Today marks the first day of Fall.

[216/365] Field of Vegetables, Watsonville, California, USA

What kind of vegetable is this? You're asking the wrong person - I have no idea. It makes for cool looking field photos though! Passed by this as we left the Manresa State Beach. To our right were strawberry fields and to our left was this lush field of perfectly parallel rows of greenery.