The Balloon Fiesta - Finally!

Thursday, October 12

Rise and shine.  It is 49 degrees at 5AM, so we wear multiple layers and take a backpack with snacks and water.

The first balloons to inflate and lift off are called the Dawn Patrol, and their jobs are to go up and test wind currents and report.  Albuquerque is in the shadow of the Sandia Mountains, so dawn comes slowly..  Here, the Dawn Patrol is ready to lift off around 6:00.

  All is favorable, so the green flag for “go” is flown.  The next group to inflate and take off are about a dozen that take paying passengers, mainly Rainbow Riders.

The launch field itself is huge (54 football fields) and is organized so that the balloons take off quickly  in waves.  There are many “zebras”,
folks in black and white striped clothing , that direct things.  Very well orchestrated!

People are free to roam the field, watching, cheering and staying out of the balloonists' way. Greg and Gwynne and I all have our phones in case we get separated.

Soon we are in awe as wave after wave take to the air amidst the swooshing sound of the burners.  Then the sun breaks over the Sandia Mountains and brightens the colors for an even more amazing site!  Hundreds of balloons take to the air! 

 And then there are the special shape balloons, such as dogs, smokey the bear, chickens, darth vader, baby carriages, a flying pig, a panda, bees, and many more.   The sun also helps with the temperature as we can shed gloves, hats and layers.

Many of the balloons represent companies, some obvious like the bimbo baker below, some subtle.

All during this time, we wander the field, watching some balloons being inflated as others lift off.  Each balloon has a chase crew, which takes off in a vehicle when the balloon lifts off, to be there when it lands.   It is hard to tell from photos, but the balloons are very large – 70-90,000 cubic feet (about 22 elephants worth).  That's quite a lot to manuever and the process to become a pilot is quite lengthy.  There is one year of training, similar to becoming an FAA pilot.  If you want to do it commercially there is another license and more training.  A balloon costs an average of about $80,000.

About 8:45, Beth heads back to the Trek while Greg and Gwynne go to the nearby Balloon Museum.  The first hot air balloon passengers were a duck, sheep and rooster September 19, 1783, sponsored by the King of France.

Bacon, eggs and bananas for breakfast.  We hang out, setting up chairs outside and relax a bit till about 4:00 when we take the shuttle back to the air field to check out the vendors and displays there.   Lots of vendors with warm clothing (must have been popular this morning!), many souvenirs from jewelry to t-shits to artwork, etc. and displays by sponsors Canon, Verizon, Bimbo (bakery) and more.  There is also a chain-saw art display with artists creating some pretty nice work.

Tons of foods too, from the usual corndogs and nachos to some southwestern fare (with red or green chili of course).  We enjoy some ice cream as the day has warmed up nicely, and sit in the field to wait for the evening display. 

As dusk falls, a few hundred of the balloons set up and inflate their balloons but do not lift off, so we can walk amongst them and catch some good photos.  This is called the "Glow".

 Now and then someone will give a countdown from 10 and many balloons will light at once, but generally it is balloons blinking on and off against the night sky.  Beautiful!

As we wait for the shuttle back to the Trek,  they set off a nice fireworks display to cap the evening!   Back at "home", we discover to our chagrin, that the fridge is not working when set on propane, so food is not the coldest. Gwynne comes to the rescue, finding a bag of ice for us.  We distribute the ice, then enjoy some snacks and call it an end to an amazing day!