Q: What's wrong with this picture?
A: I've lived in El Paso almost 32 years, and this year is the first time I've attended the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.
I'm sure glad my kids let me crash their party!
Saturday morning Kris & I tried to leave bright and early. OK, I tried to leave bright and early. Kris wasn't excited about going so stayed in bed an extra hour or two. But when I said, "We'll be too late to go to lunch with the kids!" and, "The hotel has a Jacuzzi!" he was out of bed and ready to roll almost immediately.
He and Elton John were good company for the 3 1/2 hour drive. The desert was unusually green because of the heavy summer rains, and occasionally there would be a stand of massive cottonwoods just starting to change from green to yellow to gold. With a bit of a nip in the air it actually felt like autumn!
It's funny how a road trip can conjure up memories. Crossing the Puerco River reminded me of a trip our family took to Baja when I was a 5th grader. One of my older sisters (I won't name names) told me that she knew Spanish, and that I should greet people by saying, "Buenos Dias, Puerco!" I proudly said it to a few random people on the street before she told me that 'puerco' means pig. I was mortified, but wondered why nobody had reacted to my rudeness. I don't think my pronunciation was very good. Whew.
Driving through Socorro and Magdalene made me think of the 4th-year hike we did about 10 years ago in the Black Range just west of those towns. It was February, and we were caught in a blizzard the second day. We were able to hike down to a ranch run by church members, and ended up sleeping in the bunk house. Which was really more like a Hilton. All the girls took hot showers, cooked their meals in the microwave, and slept in soft, warm beds. So much for roughing it.
I don't know the story behind the town named Derry Arrey, but the name makes me smile every time I see the sign. (Google explained that they are 2 towns about 25 miles apart).
We arrived in Albuquerque just in time to meet up with everyone at California Pizza for a yummy lunch. After checking in at the hotel we decided to divide and conquer: Rachele, Kris & I took the Jensen kids to the pool for an hour and the other adults + Avery headed off for the Darius Rucker concert at the fairgrounds.
Kris didn't need any encouragement to get in the Jacuzzi
Mitchell - love that smile!
But he can hold his breath under water far too long for my comfort level
Fearless Curtis
Daredevil Aubrey
Sadly, she paid the price :( Thankfully, it wasn't much more than a scrape, and was soon forgotten
Another smile that I love!
Soon we were on our way to the fairgrounds to meet up with the others, carting blankets & chairs & snacks & drinks & jackets & hats & anything else that we thought we might need for the late afternoon and evening. We arrived to enjoy the end of the concert, as well as mingling with the very family-friendly crowd.
Run, Avery, Run!
Can you tell where she's headed? Look closely, there's a clue.
In the safety of their parents' arms Aubrey & Avery are able to get up-close and personal with these gorgeous equines.
The Balloon Glow is an event that was invented in Albuquerque in 1979 and is now done all over the world. Basically, the balloons are filled with air but never leave the ground. As daylight disappears it's pretty impressive to see them illuminated by their flames. At least once there was a synchronized effort to all light up at the same time.
While there was still plenty of daylight we were able to watch hundreds of balloons fill with air. It was very festive! The crew would work together, using large fans to get air into the colorful and cavernous envelopes. At a certain point they would move the fans away and start shooting the hot air from the open flame tanks to finish filling the envelope. Several people would stand inside the gondola while the rest of the crew positioned themselves to help hold it down when the balloon would rise from the ground. As soon as the balloon was upright and stable the crowd would cheer and clap. It was so much fun to hear this happening all over the field for an hour or so. Many of the crews had collector cards they would give out, and our kids loved running to different balloons to get their cards. Some of the operators would even let kids push the button to make the flames rise up into the envelope.
I'm not sure why I have such a love for hot air balloons, but I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the beautiful, bright colors combined with the magic of open-air flight. I mean, really, who came up with the idea of floating around in a basket, in the clouds, and then figured out a way to make it work?
"Dawn's Delight" was the 1st balloon we saw go up.
It is an experimental home-built balloon, made in 2002.
Every balloon has its own story
The balloon that is 2nd from the left is the same one that almost landed in our front yard in May.
This panda bear balloon sailed right over our home in May!
"O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' down the street...."
After 2 hours of trying to get close to as many balloons as possible (and collect their cards, of course), the balloons came down. It's pretty amazing how much effort it takes to set up and then take down just one balloon, but then to multiply it by the numbers we saw makes it all all quite awe-inspiring.
And, the show wasn't over yet! There was a great fireworks display that we ooohed and aaaahed through. Great job, Albuquerque!
I stole Rachele's picture :)
The 30-40 minutes it took to get from the parking lot to the freeway wasn't even annoying, however by the time we arrived back at the hotel everyone who wasn't already asleep was certainly ready to crawl into bed.
Sadly, we slept through the 5:30 am dawn patrol, which consists of a group of balloons that have lighting ascending in the dark. Next year for sure, we decided.
Oh yes, we WILL be back next year, en masse!
Kris and I needed to be on the road back to El Paso by 7:30 am. Happily, we were able to watch a little bit of the final ascension in the dawn's early light. (I counted close to 60 balloons!)
I apologize profusely to my kids for not having experienced this with them while they were growing up. I have been surprised and saddened to discover how many native El Pasoans have never been to the festival, and how many don't really know much about it.
It took way too long, but now I'm definitely a fan!
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