Enchanting Skies

OK, think of every adjective and expression you can that relates to something beautiful, wondrous, exciting, awesome, and so on and so on and so on. And even then you probably won’t be close to what we felt and saw during our days at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It was a phenomenal experience.

We stayed in the RV parking area just south of the launch field. This was a huge dirt field with minimal electricity and water (no sewer) – definitely roughing it by our standards. And there was literally no grass for our poor Miss Heidi. She didn’t quite know what to do at first, but when ya gotta go, ya find a way.

At our Good Sam orientation dinner, they told us that the balloons typically drifted to the south, right over our rigs. So on Saturday we stayed at the park and watched. The launching was taking place about a mile from where we sat. But the winds didn’t cooperate with us. The balloons all sailed off to the west and north. So our first photos are all from a distance.

There were approximately 700 balloons invited to the Fiesta this year. It’s impossible to know if they all took off this day, but there sure were a lot of them. That’s Darth Vadar in the center.

The evening event was canceled because of wind conditions, but they still set off the fireworks. We watched this from the RV park. It was a very good display.

On Sunday we got up and took the shuttle bus over to the launch field. Oh my gosh, that was the most exciting thing to be a part of! We were free to roam around at will. You could walk right up to the balloons as they were inflating.

It was really cold, but we really didn’t care. The thrill of the event far outweighed that little discomfort.


Everywhere we looked they were inflating, launching, or sailing over head. When one went up you just moved on to find another to watch. It seemed there was an infinite number of them, too.

Anyone for football?

As you can see there were people everywhere. It was elbow to elbow with thousands of people. But it wasn’t an issue. You could always find a spot where you could see something of interest.

Do you think these two were having any fun at all?

Here’s that same balloon taking off.

Did I mention Darth Vadar was there? Well, he got inflated that morning, but didn’t get off the ground. I think by then the conditions were changing.

The Wells Fargo Stage Coach tried its best as well, but did not get up either.

There was a massive cheer when these guys lifted off. I heard that sometimes they fly hand in hand.

It was almost sad when the launches came to an end. I tell you, I could bore you to tears with photos. We’ve got over 250 to choose from. But read on…

There was another Balloon Glow scheduled for Sunday evening. The program said 5:45, but I guess we didn’t get the memo. Nothing at all happens until after dark. We had gone to the field to see it, but since we hadn’t eaten, we went back to the coach. Our driver said he’d heard it was cancelled again. We found out later that it had gone as scheduled. I’m sure it was fantastic. This event is where they all set off the burners to music and the balloons light up from the inside. I’m sure it would have been fabulous, but we were hungry and the crock pot had been going all day.

Monday morning brought another massive ascension of the balloons. Again, we opted to stay at the RV park(ing lot). This turned out to be a great decision. They all came directly over us! It was SO beautiful. Some of them even landed in the field right next to where we were staying.

Did I mention they flew right over us?

Finally the sun made it over the mountains so that the pictures got better.


Some of the pilots waved and we all shouted “hellos” to each other. It was awesome!

Did you know that pigs CAN fly?

I thought of mom when this one came by.

This guy is one of my (many) favorites.

There were no events scheduled for the weekday evenings. After this fantastic morning, we went to the Acoma Pueblo with our group.

And then Tuesday morning arrived. This was the best day for flying so far. The “Box” was working. This means that the winds were just right for the balloons to fly south (over us) at one altitude, then rise up higher and catch the winds taking them back to the north (over us again). Most days allowed for about an hour to an hour and a half of flying time. They started at 7am on this day and when we drove away at 9:45 they were still in the air. They must have all been in heaven.

Since the “Box” was working, they came over us at a pretty low altitude.

Ever seen a pink elephant?

Even the big balloons got up on that day. Darth Vadar made another appearance. The Wells Fargo Stage Coach came by.

Here’s how close we were to some of the landings.




This might give you an idea of how many balloons were in the skies all at the same time.

As I said, they were still flying when we left for Santa Fe at 9:45. We did a little shopping around the plaza and then had lunch and returned to the RV via Wal-Mart. We spent the evening in Old Town Albuquerque where we also had dinner.

Wednesday’s theme was Parade of Nations. Balloonists come here, by invitation only, from all over the world. About all that meant was that they had their flags hanging from the balloons. It probably had something to do with the order of ascension, too. I didn’t hear if the “Box” was working, but they were sure flying everywhere.

We pulled out with balloons all over the skies of Albuquerque. It was bitter-sweet to leave, but our next major stop is to see the grandkids. That will be yet another wonderful part of this trip of a lifetime.