Albuquerque, New Mexico (State #43)-Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

September 30 - October 8, 2016

We spent a fun week in Albuquerque at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta! Last year, another traveling family posted their pictures of the event and we decided it was a must see.

We got up before daybreak on a few mornings to see the balloons take off in a mass ascension.

We stayed in the RV park for the Fiesta and is truly the way to go. When we were ready to go to the launch field, we walked a very short distance to where the shuttle would pick us up and drive in the express lane to drop us off right at the field entrance. For those trying to drive in and park, it can take a couple of hours.

But we were able to get there early to see the balloons light up in the dark sky

and to watch them as they are inflated.  You get to stand right next to all of the action!

Another great thing was that the balloons traveled overhead every morning after the launch. So even if we did not go to the field, we could watch them fly over the RV. And some of them even landed in the field (called the box) immediately behind the RV. Yep, that's our RV right there! 

And this one came soooo close to the top of our RV!!

We even saw some land in the RV parking lot which apparently is not too unusual.

We all learned a lot about the balloons and reviewed the information on the Albuquerque Box which is what makes Albuquerque an ideal location for this event. The wind patterns form a “box” and essentially allow the balloonist to travel at a low altitude in one direction then increase altitude and head back in the opposite direction and land near the launch site. This reduces the need for a vehicle to chase a long distance to pick up the balloon.

 And the kids got to try their hands at weaving a basket

There were so many cool balloons and all of the shaped ones were fun.

Here's a pic to show you just how big that cow was AND how detailed!  WHAT?!

We also visited the Explora! Science Museum.  It was a great museum and the kids enjoyed it so much.

 Riding this bicycle was a big step for Jacob.  He loved it and went back for another ride!

And this is certainly right up Jordan's alley.  Bubbles and mud are two of her favorite things to play in.  Ha ha!

And this was something cool that I had never seen before.  The fish were colored by the children and then scanned on a machine.   The fish would then join the other fish swimming in the water.  They would swim back and forth, flip and even change shape like the jellyfish!  So fun for us all.

One afternoon we checked out the Gravity Park.  The kids swung over the foam pits, jumped on the trampolines and checked out their Ninja Warrior skills.

And last but not least, we met up with some old friends.  Thanks to good ole Facebook (yes, there are good things about it) some friends, Melinda and Greg, saw that we were in the same area.  So we met up with them in Old Town Albuquerque for dinner.  Melinda was Greg's boss when he worked at CSC in Austin.  It was a great visit!

Next stop is Carlsbad.