Balloon Fiesta 2008

October 11, 2008
Albuquerque, NM

We've had a great time at the Balloon Fiesta this year. We have much better parking than when we attended two years ago, and the weather on Thursday and Friday was perfect.

We made the short drive from Santa Fe to Albuquerque as planned on Wednesday morning, arriving just after the designated 10:30 entry time. Several of the Monaco club members were already in place, so the arrival time wasn't too strictly enforced, but we're in a great spot about 100 yards from the launch field. We were about a mile away the last time we attended.

There were no scheduled events for Wednesday, so we just relaxed and got set up. Wayne and Eva are next door, and we set up our tables and chairs and Wayne's grill outside.

Thursday's schedule started at 5:30 AM, way before dawn. They launch several balloons as a "dawn patrol" before the activities formally start, allowing for a gauge of the flying conditions. We wandered over to the launch field and watched while everything got under way. It was a "gotta do" thing, so we put the check mark next to it. As the sun rose from behind the Sandia Mountains, the first balloon (sponsored by Wells Fargo, primary benefactor of the Fiesta) took off carrying an American Flag while The Star Spangled Banner was played over the field's speaker system. Over the next 90 minutes, several hundred balloons inflated and ascended. Although cool, it was a beautiful, cloudless morning, and the balloons drifted slowly overhead. No matter how many times you see it, it's always a magnificent sight.

Activites are broken into morning and evening schedules, so we had free time during the day. The group we were with sponsored a lunch at a local country club, so we carpooled over there. In the afternoon, Wayne and I started playing around with tailpipe extensions for our generators, since we're parked relatively close and exhaust fumes are a concern. We've both developed "prototypes" but we have more work to do when we get home. We're bound and determined to do better than the $150 version sold by Camping World. So far, we're each into it for about $30, so we're off to an OK start.

Thursday night's schedule called for a "balloon glow" (they inflate just after dark but don't fly, just run the burners to light up the balloons from the inside - didn't do much for me) followed by a fireworks show. Since we're parked so close, we were able to watch the latter from the coach, which was quite nice.

Friday was another beautiful day, with roughly the same schedule of events. We bypassed the Dawn Partol and watched the "special shapes" launch. After the special balloons launched and drifted away, they had a "rodeo" for the "normal" balloons. There were two separate contests set up on the launch field: "golf" and "key grab". For the golf course, they set up several "holes" around the field, and the balloonists were able to throw coded tokens as they passed overhead, with "closest to the pin" winning a prize.

The "key grab" was harder, with five 25' poles set up around the field, each holding a token that the balloonists tried to grab on the way by. One prize was a set of keys for a new Honda, so they were somewhat motivated. We saw a "hole in one" in the golf contest (they threw a ringer) and watched one pilot actually get the keys but drop them (sorry, apparently droppsies don't count).

We were treated to another lunch, did some more prototype exhaust work, and made a Costco run before Friday's fireworks. Unfortunately, Friday's events were marred by a fatal accident when one of the special shapes balloons hit a power line and burst into flames before crashing. Ballooning isn't for the faint of heart.

Today, the weather turned for the worse, with lots of clouds, strong and gusty winds, and (just a few minutes ago) some heavy rain. We were prepared, though, since we'd packed up all of our outside stuff yesterday afternoon. There wasn't much on the schedule for today anyway; Geri and Eva went shopping and Wayne and I are relaxing at this point.

Tomorrow is "departure day", after the final "farewell" mass ascension just after dawn (weather permitting. Depending on when we hit the road, we may make it all the way home, or we may stop for the night between Winslow and Flagstaff, along I-40. Either way, we'll have completed our "summer adventure" by Monday, when we'll be back in Peoria for the winter.