Balloon Fiesta
As previously announced, Pia and I went on a balloon ride this last Saturday and we really loved it. We had to get up really early and it was one of the few times I had to set the alarm. Anything before 5am requires the alarm, otherwise I’m fine.
Come 5am, I wake up the pea who is not thrilled about the short night, but quickly cooperates and is ready for her adventure. We drive the one hour down to Albuquerque and consider ourselves lucky that we don’t depart from the main Balloon Fiesta Park, because the traffic around that area is just ridiculous.
We arrive on time, sign the required forms and watch the crew setup the balloon. Our launch location is about half a mile from the park and there are some 10 other balloons launching from here.
Besides the captain we have six passengers (including the two of us). The basket is divided into smaller compartments (to make sure that people don’t hit each other during the landing) and Pia and I share one of them. My camera bag is at the very bottom and it turns out to be impossible to change lenses during the flight.
Once we are in the basket and experience the first few minutes of balloon flight all the built-up excitement is replaced by pure enjoyment.
During the first half of the ride, Pia does not like the burner. It’s too loud for her and whenever it goes off, she ducks in the basket. Later on she gets used to it and ignores it.
We go over the Rio Grande, grab some leaves off the top of trees and scare some horses/cows. The flight is around one hour and we touch down pretty close to the place where we departed.
Our landing was not bad at all: all those warnings about a rough touch-down were exaggerated and we exit the basket as easy as we entered it. We spend about an hour to help the crew to dismantle the balloon.
From the distance we can see more and more balloons touching down in areas around us. One seems to be stuck over the city of Albuquerque, but it eventually turns and moves to more open areas:
And then there’s my girl who has been taught to register minuscule features around here on her walks with me. In the area where the balloon touch down, she finds a collar of a pet called “Ziggy”. Most certainly that cat (or small dog) was eaten by coyotes a long time ago. We take the collar with us and attempt to call the owners (and ABQ Animal Control) back at home but without success.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Hi Tobi,
Your garage looks so organized…wish I could do the same. I’m taking an 8 week photography class;hope to improve my technique and take pictures half as good as you.
Hope all is well with you and Pia,
Pete