Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Morning Session

We're finally here at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta--another bucket list item.  We have been scheduling around this event all summer, and we're so glad that our son Blake and his girlfriend Claire came up with this idea!

They rode here with her parents, Mark and Laura, and we all met for a fun weekend in Albuquerque!  Here's a great picture of Claire and her parents.

Now that we have introduced our cast of characters for the day, we must back up to the wee hours of the morning when this Balloon Fiesta morning session began.  We were told that we should be at the launch field before 5 a.m.  That obviously meant that the alarm clocks would be set very early.  This wasn't too bad for Mark and Denisa, staying in a motor home just a 5-minute shuttle ride away.  But this took true dedication for the other four cast members who stayed at a hotel an hour away in Santa Fe.  They also had to fight the traffic and parking issues to arrive.  But all six of us were on the launch field in the dark before 5:00.  Because of some wind issues, we found it was questionable that the mass ascension of balloons would happen this morning.

We got this sad information from Josie, a co-worker of Laura's whose family flies hot air balloons.  But the above picture was taken right after they announced that the winds had changed and they began filling their balloon.  They were one of the first dozen balloons of the day that would take off.  Known as the "Dawn Patrol," these balloons launch around 6:00 a.m. in the dark.  Other pilots will watch their movements on the wind to help them guide their balloons later.  The Dawn Patrol also treats the crowd to some glowing balloons in the dark sky as they leave the launch area.

It was so fun to talk to Josie about her family's experiences ballooning.  She gave us inside information that helped us to understand what we would be seeing the rest of the fiesta.  After these first tester balloons checked out the wind currents aloft, it was time to enjoy daybreak and wait for light.





Right at 7:00, the American flag was hoisted aloft by the first three balloons with the star spangled banner in the background.

With the coming of daylight, the camera started clicking in earnest.  We were so excited to see those balloons start to rise in the early morning light!

One of the first groups to inflate were the companies selling rides.  Their passengers would get to see the fiesta balloons from the air.  We didn't even check on how much that ride would cost because we knew it wouldn't fit into our retirement entertainment budget.

By 7:30 the sky is filled with balloons!  It was awesome to be wandering around the launch field watching them take to the air.

As more balloons inflate, there are more photo opportunities.

There were whole rows of balloons standing at attention waiting for their turn to launch, while the next rows were just beginning to inflate.  A balloon has to have clearance and permission to launch from a "zebra," the nickname given to the officials wearing black-and-white striped shirts.  Getting clearance also helps to prevent balloon collisions in the air.

We were in the middle of the mob of people on the launch field.  We were free to meander around the balloons, but maneuvering from one spot to another was tricky with the crowds.  This is opening day and the weekend, so there was a record number of people here today.  We were just happy to be some of those lucky people on this sunshiny morning in Albuquerque.

As the morning progressed, our sun faded into the clouds in the east.  So not all of our pictures were of sunlit balloons floating overhead, but we thought all them were still amazing!

It's 7:45, and we finally slowed down enough to get a picture of us with our son Blake.  Next time we will remember to stay clear of that huge Wells Fargo stagecoach balloon that is inflating behind us.  It was huge, and covered up a lot of other pretty balloons.  We found out that the oversized balloons can only take off when conditions are perfect.  They often will not take off during large fiestas like this one because they also need a very big place to land.  Landing places are hard to come by in a city saturated with balloons.

Balloons are also fun to photograph when they are directly overhead.  Some of them look completely different from this angle.

We also found that it is almost impossible to get a picture without other people in it on Saturday morning.  If we crop out all the people around us, there will still be an arm or a camera that can't be cropped out.

That's because there are thousands of people standing shoulder to shoulder on the launch field with you.  By now most of the balloons have launched so it is much less crowded than earlier.  But there are still people as far as the eye can see.  We read that they estimated that 100,000 would attend the opening day, and it looked like all of them showed up.

But the crowds are happy and friendly and having a great time.

Who wouldn't be smiling and happy when you are watching a flying pig with sunglasses and a toucan/parrot floating right overhead?

It's after 8:15, and the last of the big balloons are finally inflating.  This group of three bees stood up together as they inflated, then took to the air holding hands (or maybe slapping each other as the wind currents moved them around).

It was absolutely amazing to look up in the sky to see hundreds of balloons in the air at once.  We were told that there were 550 balloons registered for the fiesta, and most launched on the opening day. While many of the locals were streaming out of the exits, we were satisfied to watch the last of the balloons disappearing. 

The morning session had exceeded all of our expectations.  We were blessed with beautiful weather and a great launch right over our heads, and we had wonderful friends to share it with.  Thanks for sharing the day with us!