Up up and away...
The Albuquerque Balloon Fest has been
on my Bucket List for a long time and what a thrill to be here. This incredible event is something everyone
should see in their lifetime.
We were up and out the door at 6:15
(total darkness) with Jim and Lydia walking to the grounds to see the lighting
of the burners and then around 7, the first launching of hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of character and colorful balloons. The crowds are unbelievable and everyone
bundled up (54 so not too bad) but till the sun came up? We had our coffee and were in such awe of
all this that the cold was not a big issue.
Sooo many families here for this thrill.
Just watching how they inflate the
balloons with a big fan and then how they come upright and the people waiting in
the basket with burner fired up and off they go! We were so excited to be so up close and
personal to all this.
What a spectacular sight…..here’s
just a few of the many pics we took (Mark took 383 photos on his camera and I
had a bunch on my phone.) Sure wish our grandchildren could've been with us!!!
The Baker and Owl
Sweet bumblebees holding hands
Uncle Sam
We came back to Daisy around 8:15 as
the balloons were still flying high and mighty overhead drifting right above
us.
Had ham/cheese omelets and toast
which hit the spot after this early-morning outing.
We have picked up jillions of bugs
along this trip and a guy who checked us into park yesterday suggested wetting fabric
softener sheets and then rinsing.
Whoaaa…magic and not a lot of elbow grease needed! Mark worked on that project this morning
(with a little help from me) and Daisy’s grill looks so much better.
After lunch, Jim, Lydia and I walked
down to the wood carving station where 6 different guys were carving various
things such a scorpion, owl, bear, etc. for competition. You could also buy their different designs.
Mark was waiting for the RV Repair
Guy to stop by and check our fridge, but in talking to him, he thinks we’ll
need a new fridge! UGH!!! With our ice and keeping fridge, freezer
and cooler tight as possible, we are doing fine. One thing for sure, you do not want to
leave the park if you don’t have to cause it’s a nightmare with all the
traffic. RV’s are not allowed to
leave.
After our walk, Lydia was ready for a
nap (sounded good to me, too), but Karen, our neighbor was talking to Mark
outdoors., so Jim and I pulled up our chairs and oh my…………….very interesting as
Karen has been involved with the Balloon Fiesta for 43 years and she and her
husband have been flying balloons for many years.
A few interesting facts:
850,000+ people will attend the
fiesta.
There are 550 balloons
(93 are characters
which sell for $750,000 on up.)
3,000 RV’s are here off and on for the 9-day
event
20 countries are represented
After an 80-degree, sunny day, it got dark around 5ish and rained a bit
resulting in this beautiful full rainbow
We are right beside the Balloon Fest Museum which we plan to tour tomorrow.
Didn't take long for the sun to come back out...till another brief shower and 1/2 rainbow came 45 minutes later.
We all walked to the field this beautiful evening and watched another round of the balloons in "After-glow" when they are tethered to the ground, but light up when the burners are turned on.
Pretty red mountains
Spectacular night time sky (Uncle Sam in foreground waiting to be inflated) While we and thousands of others were enjoying the balloons, the wind suddenly picked up and almost immediately, the mass deflation started!!! Once the baskets start lifting off the ground...down they come!
More balloons coming tomorrow...
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