From the Balloon Fiesta!

I had a chance to visit Kev, Kim, Esme, and Baby Girl in Albuquerque a few weeks ago. The visit coincided nicely with the 39th-annual Balloon Fiesta, a rather amazing spectacle of nylon and hot gases, at which, incredibly, visitors can walk right among the balloons. We arrived pre-dawn to catch, we hoped, the Dawn Patrol. This is the pre-dawn spectacle, in which a few expert ballooners drift through the still dark sky.

Esme explains ballooning.

Taking advantage of a secret, free parking spot near Balloon Fiesta Park (yes, the event has its own park (that perhaps doubles as a driving range the rest of the year) and its own museum, we arrived to buy some strong coffee that came with a free donut sample. I imagine that if we didn't have 3 1/2 year-old Esme with us, Kev and I would have probably devoured 5 to 10 of these delicious morsels each. 

One lone balloon was being observed in the darkness. Photographers flocked to create choruses of shutter-slaps each time the ballooners blasted the huge torch. It roared to form a beautiful glow in the grounded balloon.  

But Dawn Patrol was not happening; one seasoned (as evidenced by his jacket, covered with patches from worldwide balloon events in years past) member of the crew explained to those who had gathered that the winds were gnarly up high. I can't remember his exact wording, but it sounded like conditions were dangerous a few hundred feet up, and there was no way any balloons would launch that day. He was helpful and friendly, but his tone reflected the serious concern for safety beneath the colorful, fun surface of the event.

Luckily, we did catch the Special Shapes Rodeo. Balloons were still grounded, but operators filled them for the crowd. A voice over the loudspeaker informed us of the widespread origins of many balloon teams: there were a few from Europe, one from Brazil, and of course all over the US. Shapes included this creepy turtle, Smokey Bear, a Darth Vader head, a two-faced clown, a happy saguaro cactus...to name but a few. I'd like to make this a yearly visit.

Watch a few of these videos to grasp the amazing amount of activity at the Fiesta.

Huge Grabby Turtle Balloon, Balloon Fiesta, 2011.