Day 14 & 15--Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!

Fri., 10/7--We left Santa Fe early this morning, and drove SW to Albuquerque.  We’ll be going to the Balloon Fiesta tomorrow morning, very early.  Today, we went to the Balloon Museum, which is at the same location as the launch field.  The museum was interesting, and there were lots of people there.  There are lots of people everywhere in this city.  This balloon rally is a huge event, attended by about 600 balloonists and their crews, along with thousands and thousands of spectators.  It’s always the first week in October, so the event actually started last weekend.  We understand that the weather has been a problem this year, with high winds preventing some of the flights.  Today is very cloudy; there is a forecast of rain during the night, and continuing until about 6:00 tomorrow morning.  The flights are supposed to start at about 7:00.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed.  We drove around the city awhile, including finding the Rio Grande and taking a picture of it.  We also drove to Old Town, the “must see” when visiting this city.  Old Town was nearly gridlock—apparently everyone else in town read the same “must see” list that we did.  So, we drove on out of that area.  Now, we relax and wait for tomorrow morning…

Sat., 10/8--Up at 3:45 a.m., on our way to the launch field at 4:30, along with tens of thousands of other early birds.  Well, you have to get up early if you want to watch a morning  balloon launch!  We had bought a special Gondola Club pass that included close parking, a big, catered breakfast for about 200 people, and prime viewing for the Fiesta.  After eating, we sat outside to watch the action.  The weather this morning was clear, thank goodness, and 38 degrees.   Beyond the launch field was a mountain range, and there was snow on the peaks that had arrived last night.  The locals were amazed at how far down the mountains the snow was, and at how early in the season it arrived.  It made a beautiful backdrop for the balloons.  There’s a thing called Dawn Patrol here.  Before sunrise, three balloons inflated in the dark, and launched, with their burners creating a beautiful glow inside the fabric.  Off they flew.  About an hour later, the sun was up, and all the other balloons began to inflate.  This is the 40^th anniversary of the Albuquerque Fiesta, and they absolutely know how to organize this event.   The launch field is huge, of course, to accommodate the 600 balloons, the 600 chase vehicles, probably 3,000 chase crew people, and thousands and thousands of spectators.  Here, they allow the spectators to roam around right on the field.  I had always thought that would be chaotic and crowded for the pilots.  It didn’t seem to be at all.  We wandered around with everyone else, taking many pictures.  It was a gorgeous morning—weather-wise and picture-wise.  We also watched five Navy Seals parachute down to the ground, right in front of us.  It was a perfect morning.  This evening, we’re going back to the field to watch what’s called a Glow.  The balloons will inflate after dark, and the burners turn the balloons into beautiful, enormous light bulbs.  After that, fireworks!  I’m going to go ahead and post this blog now.  If we get some good Glow pictures tonight, I’ll post them later.