More Travels 4-Balloons Galore Aloft

Balloons Galore Aloft

As we drive, suddenly the sky in the
distance fills with colorful balloons.

Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque took off this morning. We knew it at 4:15 a.m. when security alarms went off in the motel. People, tired of waiting for the elevator, apparently used the emergency door. Earlier I had overheard one lady say she had to be at the launch site by 4:30 a.m.
Andy said that weather reports at 7:00 a.m. had balloon launches on hold due to wind conditions. We checked out and headed north out of town on Route I-25. Huge balloons lifted into the air in the distance. By 9:15 a.m. the beautifully colored and patterned inflatables that dotted the sky were already coming down.

We stop in the parking lot at Denny's
to get a better view of the Balloon Fiesta.

Andy explained how it worked. "Rides last an hour to an hour-and-a-half, depending on wind and landing spots," he said, "but it takes three to three-and-a-half hours for the crew to transport the balloon back to Fiesta Park for the next passengers."

A lighthouse is only one of the unusual
shapes we spot from Denny's parking lot.
 

We were told the whole Balloon Festival lasts ten days, so opportunities to go up in a balloon last all day and all week long.  Drew wanted us to go for a ride. He said it would make for good blog fodder. But at $400 a person, which was the rate mentioned by a young couple we met at the winery, it was a tad out of our price range.
The rolling hills outside of Santa Fe are lined with adobe-style homes. From the by-pass we could see the varied outline of rooftops, all one-story and two-story dwellings. "I can picture the ruins of a pueblo community there," I told Andy. "I wonder what story it will tell hundreds of years hence."
We stopped at Buffalo Thunder casino for coffee around 10:00 a.m.  The car thermometer read 46 degrees, and a cold wind whipped across the parking lot. "This really looks like a giant pueblo," I told Andy. "Can you imagine what the ruins of this place would say about 21st century society!"
Inside a great many of the slot machines played for pennies. "You never saw that years ago," said Andy. "That just goes to show they'll take every last penny."

Heading toward Los Alamos, we notice the green vegetation
as we approach the Jemez Mountains.
It is the result of unusual rainfall amounts this fall.

It was 52 degrees by the time we headed into the Jemez Mountains, but recent rain kept the desert sage green and the Rio Grande flowing.
Los Alamos was located in one of the most out-of-the-way places possible. Back in the 1940's, it must have been really inaccessible. That's apparent by the road in. As we climbed, the temperature dropped again to 46 degrees. In town, the trees had all turned red and yellow.

Andy, Sue, Kurt (back row), Chris, Carol and Kari relax
around the dining room table after dinner.

Carol and Kurt were not exactly waiting for us with baited breath. A half hour before we arrived their kitchen sink sprung a leak under the cabinet and flooded the kitchen. We were just in time to help.
Andy and Kurt set to work on a repair job. Carol and I followed orders for towels, rubber bands and flashlights, but otherwise we stayed out of the way. Progress happens. Before long, Carol had a new faucet, and the kitchen dried out.
Kari's friend Chris joined us for dinner. Kurt had prepared German Gulasch and fried potatoes. He got the recipe from a German cookbook--written in German. Carol had baked apple pie for dessert. It was an evening of good food, good wine and good company.