The Final Part of Fall Trip

We spent a few days near Santa Fe New Mexico at a Corps of Engineer Park. We had been to Santa Fe before, but for the rest of the group it was the first time. We had three rigs that had been traveling with us since Oregon and another rig was joining us here and we were all headed to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque together. Then we had friends from Colorado join us for some of our activities in Albuquerque. We had early (4am) wake-ups to get to the launch field in time for the Mass Ascension. You are allowed anywhere on the launch field, can talk to the crews and watch the inflation and ascension or glows at night. You just have to listen for whistles to warn you a balloon is going up or a crew yelling for you to get out of the way as they run with ropes during inflation.

Balloons come in all kinds of shapes and it was fun trying to figure out what they would be as they inflated. Since shapes are not as easy to fly as a regular balloon, the wind had to be just perfect for them to take flight. Otherwise they did a "static display", which means they just inflated and stayed attached to the ground. But, we were lucky and had good winds and away they went.

At night, they did a Night Glow. The balloons are anchored to the ground and at a signal, they all light their burners and the field glows. For this the balloons are touching each other and the field is full of balloons and people.

We were lucky to have good weather and only one Mass Ascension was cancelled. They usually have to cancel more events than that. A mass ascension has somewhere around 500 balloons going up in three groups. There are lines marked on the field and the balloons line up on their line and inflate while others are laying out next to those. The field is covered with lines of balloons. Once the first group is inflated, they launch and the next group inflates and another lays out. It is an amazing sight! And there are so many people you can hardly move on the launch field. My description was you are face to face, shoulder to shoulder and backside to backside with a million of your closest friends. Everyone was polite, however, and they did open up pathways so you get through. This is a once in a life time must see. It is awesome!

We also visited Old Town Albuquerque and went up the Sandia Tram to view Albuquerque from the mountain top ski area.

Last stop was northeast Arizona and the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. The Painted Desert had many different colors and changed with the sunlight.

There was one area with lots of Petroglyphs.

Then the Petrified Forest with hundreds of logs scattered everywhere.

From there, we went home to Casa Grande AZ.