A Desert Spectacle - Albuquerque, NM - October 2007

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The ALBUQUERQUE BALLOON FIESTA!!!

It's cold outside. The sun is not up yet. You did not want to get up in the first place. 20,000 other people have exactly the same idea at 5 in the morning. And you are stuck in traffic as if you are driving in Los Angeles at rush hour.

These are just a couple of the things that you will have to deal with going to the Balloon Fiesta. I lived here for 5 years and never went. On the way to school in the morning you will just see hundreds of balloons in the sky. So Nikkie and I decided to go and lived through all the agonies described above. But once you are inside it turns magical. You get right up there with the balloonists making small talk and watching them prepare the balloons. It's interesting to see how they inflate the balloons. Each balloon team have a trading card. Some people go just to collect the trading cards. Just before sunrise they send up the dawn patrol. It's about 10 balloons that take up before sunrise. Don't ask me what they do, but it probably has something to do with figuring out the winds and stuff.

Just after sunrise it gets interesting. Hundreds of balloons take off. Special "zebra-guys" are on hand to help the balloons take-off. And before you know if most of the balloons are up and all you can do is stare up at the sky in amazement. And by 9 it is all over. An especially special day is the "SPECIAL-SHAPE BALLOONS" day - not to be missed with everything from a stage-coach to a cow to Darth Vader. You can opt to go back to bed or you can try the local food. On top of the list is Frontier Restaurant. A local college dive right across from the University. You can not go wrong. Get the breakfast burrito (egg, hashbrowns, green chile and sausage or ham. Smother it in red chile and as a side get a big glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a sweet roll. It does not get better. One last item that is a must if you go through the trouble of getting to Albuquerque for this - the NIGHT TIME BALLOON FIESTA GLOW. Many of the balloons will gather at night and ignite their burners which creates this beautiful scene of color against the dark night sky. Kids live this.

Other than that ALBUQUERQUE is a pretty fun place. You can do the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum to learn more about the balloons. Do the Sandia Tramway and eat at HIGH FINANCE RESTAURANT on top (we talked about this in an earlier blog). Old Town is a pretty neat shopping area for art and Indian jewelry. There are plenty of good food. You really can't go wrong at any of the local New Mexican dives. St Claire's is a personal favorite of ours - good local wines. Nob Hill is a nice shopping area with the Nob Hill Bar & Grill a favorite. Otherwise you can satisfy your gambling needs at any of the local surrounding casinos (the golfing here is awesome too - so give your wife some money for shopping and hit the links for a couple hours).

So the Balloon Fiesta was in 2 of our books so 9 down and 3,035 to go.

Till next time

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Photos

Balloon Fiesta
Awesome colours

Balloon Fiesta
Zebra-dude helping with the take-offs