2013-10 Albuquerque Part I

Ray and LeAnn went to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend the 42nd International Balloon Fiesta.  We had wanted to go see the fiesta for quite a while, and this year it worked out.  We have attended some smaller festivals including the Hudson Hot Air Affair in Wisconsin in January, and a festival in the Philippines.  These festivals had a couple of dozen balloons, while the Fiesta has over 600 of various sizes and shapes.  It is held in it's own park, which has an 80 acre field (about 60 football fields) ringed by food and merchandise vendors.  It is also adjacent to the Hot Air Balloon Museum.  The Fiesta runs 9 days from Saturday through the following Sunday.  There are mass ascensions every morning and evening glows (lighting up the balloons but not taking off) every night except Tuesday-Thursday. 


When we arrived on Tuesday afternoon we first headed to Old Town to grab a bite to eat.  This is about a 4 square block are with shops and restaurants, a central plaza and church.  There were square dancers entertaining at the plaza.  We found a place to eat and had our first taste of New Mexico food, complete with the question you are asked with every meal--red or green.  This refers to whether you want red or green chilies with your meal.  From there, we decided to go up to the fiesta grounds to scope out the parking and best routes.  It was very quiet with nothing going on that evening.

We then went up to Sandia Peak to decide if we would do a tram ride while we were here.  We were also wondering if it would be open as it operates on Federal Forest Service lands.  We found out it was open so we decided we would go up the next day. It was a beautiful evening and we got to see a lovely sunset form the base of Sandia Peak.

Wednesday morning we got up early and headed to the park for the Dawn Patrol and Mass ascension.  We arrived about 5:30 and the vendors were doing a brisk business in breakfast food and hot drinks.  It was in the 40's, but relatively calm, so a good morning for ballooning.  The first balloons lift off around 6:30 AM into the darkness.

The mass ascension begins at 7:00 with balloons taking off constantly for the 1-1/2 to 2 hours.  These balloons include standard tear drop balloons, the newer football style racing balloons, and the custom shape balloons.  The sky is literally filled with balloons.  If the condition are right, a phenomenon called the Albuquerque box develops in which lower level winds move south through the valley and the upper level winds head northerly.  Because of this, it sometimes possible to take off and head south, then rise up and head north past the field, then drop down and head south back to the field and land back in the field.  What is so unique about this event is the that spectators are down on the field wondering between all the balloons while they are being inflated and prepared for lift-off.

Ray purchased a trading pin from the Albuquerque traffic control division to support their charity.  Many groups have pins made up to sell in limited quantities or at special times during the fiesta.   It is hit and miss as to where and when they pop up.  There are some people who have hundreds of pins that they wear on coats and vests, including one of the local new broadcasters, who does a 2 hour show live from the fiesta grounds every day during the fiesta.

Later in the morning after watching the balloons come and go and drift around, we headed to the balloon museum at the north end of the grounds.  There are displays about the history of ballooning, and its use in war, transporting goods, and as a hobby.  There are many baskets on display from various cross country and transoceanic crossings.

That afternoon we headed up to Sandia Peak to take the Tramway up to the top of the mountain.  The tramway is over 2.5 miles in length and rises over 4,000 feet.  It takes about 15 minutes to go up or down, and the tramcar itself holds 50 people.  There are two cars fixed on the double cable that always go in opposite directions as the cable is pulled by some very large motors.  The maintenance men ride up on the top of the car first thing in the morning and throughout the day to check the cables, towers and pulleys.  There is a ski resort on top of the mountain.  We ate dinner in the restaurant on top and then enjoyed the views of the valley below.  As a storm was coming in, it was getting windier as the day went on and they quit sending people up the mountain.  We were able to get down without any delay, but sometimes the tramway is shut down for extended periods if there is a large cross wind.

On Thursday we headed to the New Mexico Museum of Natural history.  They have a very extensive dinosaur collection, most of which are from the immediate area.  LeAnn wanted to see an exhibit of a diatryma that was made possible with help of one of her previous clients.  This was a large, 7' tall bird that once roamed New Mexico.  The museum also had a planetarium area and a nice exhibit on the history of personal computing, including the creation of Microsoft in Albuquerque before they moved on to the Seattle area.

We stopped at a winery near Old Town for some wine tasting and a snack before heading to the fiesta park to watch the evening glow.  However, due to high winds, the event was cancelled.  The park was open with no charge and there were a few vendors open along with a chain saw carving contest, which was fascinating to watch as they turned 2' diameter logs into works of art.  The finished products were going to be raffled off and auctioned off over the weekend to benefit a local firefighters charity.  Each chain saw artist had a least a half a dozen chain saws with different bars and attachments that they used for various roughing, detail work and finishing work.  It was amazing what they could create from a block of wood. 

Even though the fiesta park was nearly empty, there was one vendor booth that still had a couple of long lines in front despite the cancellation.  This was booth that sold trading pins.  Since Albuquerque is the setting for the TV show Breaking Bad, they had created a pin to commemorate the series finale.  They had sold out the Saturday before, and had brought in some more pins to sell Thursday.  They have been selling on eBay for over $30, but if you weren't in line, you could order them on line from the manufacturer for $5 anytime during the festival.  Since there was no evening glow, we went for a late dinner a Pappadeaux's seafood restaurant, a chain that we don't have up north.