In October 2019, I took a two week vacation to New Mexico. I was so excited to visit this unique state, I hadn't ever been before and had heard so many wonderful things about it, yet it isn't somewhere many people go to vacation, so I was curious to check it out. My trip was kind of two-in-one, the first week I was with the Madisons in Albuquerque, at the end of that week my parents flew in and the Madisons drove home and I spent the next week with my parents on a Tauck Tour that took us from Albuquerque to Taos and Santa Fe.
One of the big reasons we all wanted to visit New Mexico was to attend the world renowned International Balloon Fiesta!! This had been on all of our travel bucket lists for years and we were giddy with excitement that we were finally going to experience it.
The Balloon Fiesta is a 9 day event that takes place in Albuquerque the first week of October every year. The festival originated in 1972 with 13 balloons, now it is the largest balloon convention in the world with 600 balloons and 100,000 spectators on any given day from all over the world. The number of registered balloons reached a peak of 1,019 in 2000, prompting the Balloon Fiesta Board to limit the number to 600.
There are different balloon events each day, where you can watch the balloons fly or glow:
Dawn Patrol
The Dawn Patrol began at the Balloon Fiesta in 1978, when two California balloonists developed position lighting systems that allowed them to fly at night. Dawn Patrol pilots take off before sunrise and fly until it is light enough to see landing sites. Fellow balloonists appreciate the Dawn Patrol because they can watch the balloons and get an early idea of wind speeds and directions at different altitudes.
Mass Ascensions
One of the biggest events of the fiesta, where all participating balloons launch in two waves, filling the sky with hundreds of balloons at once. Launch directors, also known as “zebras” because of their black-and-white-striped outfits, serve as “traffic cops,” coordinating the launch so balloons leave the field in a safe and coordinated manner.
Special Shape Rodeo
Many non-traditional, uniquely shaped balloons are launched at the same time. Some of the most famous shapes include a milk cow, a wagon coach, twin bees, and many others like soda pop cans and animals. This is the most popular part of the event as families can see how balloons can be all different in shapes and sizes.
Balloon Glows
Large numbers of balloons are illuminated at night by their propane burners. They stand static and do not take off during these events. The "Glowdeo" is a night glow for the special shapes balloons.
We were most excited about watching the balloons fly during a Mass Ascension and seeing one of the Balloon Glows at night. Planning a trip to see the balloons fly is pretty tricky, the weather conditions and temperatures need to be just right or else the event will be canceled. Beth had left our vacation plans pretty flexible with several mornings free to attend a Mass Ascension in case we tried to see the balloons fly and it got canceled. Luckily, we got to see them fly on our first try, which is good because getting to the balloon park in time for Mass Ascension at 7am is a lot of work.
We had researched the best way to get to the balloon park, driving there and parking ourselves didn't seem like a realistic options since there is such limited parking. We looked into shuttles, buses, and bikes before we settled on taking Ubers. We scheduled our Uber to pick us up at our Airbnb around 5:45am, it was still dark and absolutely freezing outside and we were all so unbelievably tired. Over the years, Albuquerque has perfected the Uber system of getting guests to the park, all our Uber drivers knew the best routes to avoid traffic and there is a designated drop off point for all the drivers. From there we had about a 10-15 minute crowded walk to the entrance of the park, then we purchased our tickets and walked even further into the park where the balloons were.
And on top of that, Beth and I were both terribly sick with some sort of monster cold/flu. We both had horrible congestion, headaches, stomach cramps, and nausea Beth was just recovering from pink eye and I woke up with a cluster of 15 cold sores on my upper lip so I could barely move my lips at all and was in excruciating pain. So, we were a little bit of a hot mess, but we bonded over that fact were were hot-messing-it together and it just added to the fondest we have for this trip. I'm not complaining about any of this by the way, just writing up the reality of how it was, and to remember the process for if I ever want to go back.
All the effort it took to get all 5 of us there and all the tiredness we all felt was 1000% worth it when we saw the balloons beginning to fly, it is such a magical and surreal feeling being completely surrounded by hundreds of colorful, ginormous, flying balloons. Trying to capture the feeling and sight in pictures is impossible, it is truly something you need to experience in person to fully understand the beauty, majesty and whimsy of it all.
We were all in awe, standing in the middle of the park and having balloons being blown up or lifting off all around us, it was so fun to watch the balloonist prepare their balloons for lift off, you can totally tell how much they love flying and how excited they were to get in the air. There isn't any distance you have to keep around the balloons so you can get right up next to the balloonists and ask them questions as they are blowing up their balloon, that whole process is fascinating.
Have you ever wondered why the largest hot air balloon convention in the WORLD is in Albuquerque, New Mexico? Does that seem random to anyone else? I was curious about that, but we learned all about it during our visit, it's all because of the Albuquerque Box.
The success of the Fiesta depends in part on the cool Albuquerque morning temperatures in October and the Albuquerque box. The "box" is a set of predictable wind patterns that can be exploited to navigate the balloons. At low elevations the winds tend to be northerly (from the north), but at higher elevations they tend to be southerly. Balloonists use these winds to navigate in a vertical box: they ascend slightly from the launch park, move south, ascend further, move north, descend, and repeat the box or land back in the launch park or quite nearby. During events involving on-field targets, such as the "Key Grab" (where pilots attempt to grab prizes, including a set of keys to a new vehicle, from atop tall, flexible poles), it's not uncommon to see the same balloon make 5 or 6 passes at the targets, simply by working the "Box" to keep returning to the field. Since Balloonists can only control how high or low they go, they can't "steer" left or right, they can use the box to help them move from side to side simply by flying higher or lower until they hit the wind that will blow them in the right direction.
All 600 balloons flew during the Mass Ascension that day!
I took the Madison's Christmas card photo for them, and it turned out so cute!
After spending a couple of hours with the balloons, we were anxious to find somewhere to eat. We had all grabbed little snacks on our way out of the airbnb, but we didn't have time for a real breakfast until after the fiesta. We chose to eat at the Owl Cafe because a big, warm plate full of diner breakfast food sounded magnificent after waking up so early and being out in the freezing cold all morning
A lot of stores and restaurants had cute signs welcoming the balloonists to town!
The Owl Cafe is a fun 1950's style diner, with a jukebox on every table. We made several jukebox requests during our meal and it was so fun when we would hear them come on!
I ordered a hot chocolate as soon as we sat down and our sweet server kept them coming during our entire meal. One thing we noticed about New Mexico, we encountered it several times, like everywhere we went, the people there are the sweetest, nicest, most considerate and sincere people we had ever met. A couple of older couples were seated in the booth next to us, and a few times throughout our meal, they leaned over to tell us how adorable Monty was and how sweet it was to see a family like us enjoying each other's company. And the servers at the Cafe were so generous and sweet and chatty and we just loved every minute of meeting the sweet people of New Mexico.
We all ordered something hearty, warm and delicious for our meals and everything tasted so good. We had noticed a sign for a limited edition, halloween shake and Beth and I love specialty, limited time holiday themed treats so we had to get one for the table. I am so sad didn't write down everything that was in the shake, cause it was ... creative. At the time I remember thinking it was such a random combo of flavors and we were so curious of how it was going to taste. Beth and I recently discussed it and we know there was chocolate and mint for sure, and we are both pretty certain banana and perhaps caramel was in there too. Such a fun mystery, halloween shake.
After breakfast, we headed back to our airbnb to change into warm, comfy sweats, take much needed naps and relax after a busy and exciting morning. The Madison's cat, Misty joined us on this vacation, she would spend the day in the bathroom relaxing on a heat pad and when we got home we would open the door and let her come hang out with us if she wanted, a lot of the time she preferred her heat pad to hanging out with us, she loooooved her heat pad, but sometimes she would join us during tv time. I always felt so honored when she would choose to jump up on my lap.
Mitsy joined us because she was an older kitty, around 18, and had some health issues that caused her to need nightly injections of fluids. Bethy had been giving them to her for a few months and needed to keep giving them to her, so Misty joined in on the road trip. I admire Beth so much for being the warrior that she is, she is always so willing to think outside the box and find a way to make things work, it's one of the many things that makes her the magical person that she is. I don't think it would have even crossed my mind, if I was in her position, to bring Mitsy on the trip. But Bethy came up with the idea and made it happen, and it turns out Mitsy was an amazing road trip cat. She loved looking out the window on the drive and curling up on someones lap or underneath V's carseat. They even took Mitsy on a hike in a baby sling, and Misty loved it.
I loved soaking in all the baby Monty snuggles too, he is the happiest, sweetest baby.
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