2013-10 Albuquerque Part II

Continuing our visit to Albuquerque, on Friday morning we went again to Fiesta Park for the Dawn patrol and the special shape mass ascension There were only 6 balloons in the pre-dawn lift off this time, but many more balloons in the mass ascension.  The crowds were much larger on Friday than on Wednesday.  The winds were very calm on Friday morning, so the balloons did not separate very far after lift off, so the sky was filled with balloons.  At 7:00, two balloons lifted off with US flags trailing from the basket while the national anthem was played from the stage.  The rest of the balloons then followed.

The fiesta had almost 100 special shape balloons this year.  most got off the ground on Friday, but a few just inflated and then deflated.  Special shapes need very special wind conditions in order to operate properly.  Even seeing them inflated without leaving the field was very special.
Some of the balloons were trying to circle back to the field and hit special targets set up on the field to win cash prizes.  Not many of the balloons made it back on Friday due to the light winds and lack of Albuquerque box effect.

After all the balloons had take off we wondered the grounds and came upon a couple of members of the Albuquerque mounted police division.  One of the officers was playing a harmonica to which the horses were dancing in unison with the music.  The horses were very well trained for this.

We spotted a couple of interesting chase vehicles, one being a "John Deere Davidson" 3 wheeled chase vehicle.  When we saw it, he had the balloon, basket and pilot hooked up and returning to the trailer.  The other was an old restored fire truck.  The fire truck had a large chase crew riding in the back.

In the afternoon, we drove to Corralles to visit some wineries.  Only a few of the local wineries have their own vineyards, and most get the grapes from the far southern portion of the state near Deming.  A lot of the wines are mixtures of various grapes rather than single grape wines.  We visited 3 wineries and then stopped at Wagner's farm and watched them roast chilies by the bushel.  People would by a full bushel of the chilies in the store and then bring them out to the side of the building where 6 roasting stations were in place.  Once the burners were lit, the chilies were placed in the rotating drum for about 5 minutes.  Just in the short time we watched about 5 batches were bought and roasted.

Saturday we got up to see balloons floating by our hotel room window, even though were about 8 miles south of the balloon park, a few balloons came all the way down, while some rose up and headed north or west.  They end up landing all over the city, but the Indian reservation and air force base are off limits.

We drove up to Santa Fe, which is about 1 hour away.  We had planned to head to the Santa Fe plaza, but found lots of traffic and closed roads as we got close.  We were looking for parking and ended up in front of the state capital building, which is a 2 story round building, very different from most capital buildings.  As a matter of fact, there did not appear to be any buildings higher than 2 stories in the whole city.  Across from the capital building is a Bataan memorial dedicated to the New Mexico troops who were captured and endured the Bataan march through the Philippines.

We walked about 3 blocks to the plaza and discovered the reason for the closed roads and traffic.  The Porsche 356 car club was having its annual West Coast Holiday in Santa Fe.  There were over 250 of the Porsche 356 parked around the perimeter of the plaza.  There were a few other models sprinkled in, including a Porsche diesel tractor.

Santa Fe is a beautiful town with all the adobe buildings, a small river and walking path going through town and all the government buildings.  The church next to the plaza was having a wedding inside and a small craft fair outside.  While we were there, the bride pulled up in a beautiful red Chevy Deluxe.  This is the same car that LeAnn's parents bought back in the 50's and has been restored.  We still take it for rides when we go down to visit her mom.

Near the church is the Loretto Chapel, home of the miracle staircase.  It is a beautiful, double wrap staircase from the floor to the choir loft.  It originally did not even have handrails, but was so well crafted that it supported itself without so much as a center post.   The railings were added for safety and to make it easier to use.  Before the staircase, ladders were used to get up to the choir loft.  The craftsman who built just it just showed up one day looking for work, was put to work and then left when it was done.

We then drove up towards Las Alomos to Don Quixote winery and distillery.  Besides wines, they also distill bourbon, vodka, brandy, and even vanilla.  While we were there, they were conducting a wine appreciation class for about a dozen people.  They have classes a couple of times a month.  We stopped at Camel Rock, named for the shape of a large rock that has eroded away under the head and the hump behind the rock.  Looking at it from the north, LeAnn thought it also looked like ET.



On the way back to Albuquerque, we stopped back in Santa Fe to go up to Fort Marcy.  We parked at the bottom of the hill and took the switchback trail to the top.  There are now just mounds where the original walls were.  All the adobe walls have disintegrated, partially helped when coins were discovered at the fort and people went to look for more destroying most of the wall structure.  They have also erected a large cross on the top of the hill with a great view of the city of Santa Fe.  It commemorates the death of 21 Franciscan friars and numerous Spanish colonists during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.



Sunday we got up to go to the see the petroglyphs.  The actual monument and most of the petroglyphs are part of a national park, so were closed due to the federal government shutdown, but there is a smaller area which is owned by the city and was open.  The petroglyphs are made by chipping away the outer weathered portion of the volcanic rock and exposing the inner, lighter colored rocks.  They call the weathered outer layer a desert varnish.  There were many animals, plants, costumes and masks represented in the petroglyphs.  One seed pod petroglyph even looked like a hot air balloon.  Did the ancient Pueblos know something about the future?

We then headed out to the airport to catch our flight back to Minneapolis after a great time in the ballooning capital of the world.  Definitely worth a visit.