Albuquerque International Balloon Fest - Part 1

October 10, 2008 - Friday

The Albuquerque International Balloon Festival. Part 1.

Wow.

We dragged ourselves out of bed at 5AM since we'd been told to be on the road early to avoid the traffic. On the Interstate by 5:30AM and up I25 - about 5 miles - to Balloon Fiesta Park - taking the first of 2 exits marked "BALLOON PARKING". Don't believe them. The southernmost exit is just for overflow and they seem to frequently put police at the bottom of the ramp - just waving you back onto the interstate to the Northern exit - but delaying you by 20 minutes in the process. THAT was the problem from the nite before. Tip: If you go (and you SHOULD see this at least once in your life), don't believe the signs: take the "Tramway" exit directly to "Balloon Fiesta Park". But this first morning, we did what we were told, and slowly drove with the crowds - watching the "Dawn Patrol" go up at 5:45 - the single Hot Air Balloons glowing in the dark. They send up a couple of single balloons just to see how the winds are blowing - and they are beautiful - shining in the dark from their huge propane burners. Eventually, we got to pay our $10/car parking and find a spot in the lot, then pay our $6 per person entrance and shiver our way onto the field.

It was cold.

It was dark.

And it was a HUGE grassy field with a feeling of anticipation. We didn't know WHAT to expect as we milled around - and we just stood on a spot pretty-much mid-field and shivered and waited:


Yes, Kathy really is there in that picture.
The crowds slowly grew and it began to get lighter - ever-so-slowly.


I'll point out that they say that this is pretty-much the ONLY Balloon festival where everybody is allowed right out onto the field - in the midst of the balloons: you're not just off to the side watching - you're right in the *middle* of the balloons. And there were 680 balloons this year. Full-size hot-air balloons. Over ***600*** of them all in one place. You lose sense of scale and the 100-foot-high (?) balloons become "normal size things".


A single balloon went up - with an American Flag attached to the bottom of the basket - formally opening the morning's event.


And a special note should be made that *this* morning was specifically the "Special Shapes" morning: all of the unusually-shaped balloons were featured.


So we waited. And kept turning around looking at blobs of material on the ground around us - slowly inflating.


And the excitement grew as we poked each other and said: "Look at *that*! What do you suppose THAT is going to be when it inflates?"


Just magical and manic and beautiful.


Then I turned around and saw why we had seen "Storm Troopers" from "Star Wars" on the field earlier:

We had just *happened* to have picked out a spot right beside Darth Vader. REALLY cool to have him "growing" right next to us.

We kept spinning around and the sun kept slowly lighting up the field. It is just indescribable how everything combines: the cold and the surprise and the joy and "aha!" as you recognize a lump of material - as it finally inflates - then slowly stands up - then waits - and finally lifts off with no warning. 600 balloons - like a hive of bees - each individually an entity in itself - but joining the group spectacle.

I stood like a rotating fool - just spinning and snapping - and we took over 200 photos of the morning launch - constantly pointing and telling each other to "Look at THAT!" A joyous "birthing" - and we all got to be right in the middle of it all - watching the "fledgling birds leave the nest". The sky kept brightening and *filled* with huge balloons: Angel and Devil, Stork with sling in its beak, a *pair* of pigs - to show that *now* is the time "When PIGS fly!", Darth Vader, a Champagne bottle, a pair of bees - velcro'ed together so that they held hands until they "kissed" then separated. Constant delights and surprises.

As the brilliant sunrise completed, it illuminated the balloons and the sky was *filled* with colorful shapes. It was just impossible to remember that these are *each* 10-stories high:

Amazing. Wonderful. Beautiful. Awe-inspiring.

And they weren't done. The went directly into the "Key Grab". Look closely in the photo below and you can see long white poles on the field. The Balloonists launch far away, then have to try to maneuver close enough to grab an envelope off the top of the pole - with their hand. Remember that balloons really have *no* control of direction: they go where the wind blows. And the up/down control has a huge lag: you hit the burner and it takes 5-10 seconds before you begin to go up. So it was astonishing that 2 or 3 of the balloonists really did manage to get close enough to grab a prize - without hitting the ground. Really cool to watch:
Wow. WOW! Wow.

About 2 hours of non-stop balloon launches and spectacle.

Finally, they were done and I realized that my legs were TOTALLY stiff from standing and twirling for 3 solid hours. We got smarter and brot chairs for the other time we spent at Balloon Fiesta Park.

Great stuff.

We then wandered the vendors and got "breakfast" (the little mini-donuts that taste SO good) and other wonderful "Fair food". And the day had only begun. The festival actually goes on for 9 days - and we jumped in for the last 3.

As I said, we took over 200 photos of the morning. I've whittled it down to about 80 which you can see HERE.

More to come.