Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Well we finally made it after all the problems that we had.


As you can see, it is not crowded at all. Now I know how a sardine feels.




Everyone showed up for the big event. The team with Vader were all dressed like the stormtroopers.


Wells Fargo had three balloons. This one never got off the ground. I guess they were waiting for more bail out money.


There are so many different sizes and shapes.


There were so many balloons that they have to take off in waves. The field that they take off from is 78 acres, which they say will hold 54 football fields.


These are the "zebras" They control every aspect of the balloonists activity. They tell them when to launch, clear the crowds.


Had to show a picture of Anne. She is our nine month old golden retriever puppy. She has become a good companion to Shadow our 16 year old lab. Shadow doesn't keep up to well with Anne, in fact we don't think she can even see her.

NICE PICTURES!!! THANKS

Some day, I hope to get there for the festival.

Keep the pictures coming....

They are some nice

We're never there at the right time. We've seen one or two balloons occasionally as we were driving through. We should try to arrange one of our trips west to coincide with the Festival.

Great photos!

Day 2

You start the morning at 4:30am so that you can see them launch the dawn patrol.


Nothing is more breathtaking (and cold too) than watching the balloons before the sun is up.


The sky fills with balloons. Wherever you look, you see more.


You can just see Sponge Bob over my shoulder. He never got off the ground. This is their first year. They are from Brazil.

I was looking for myself in the Darth Vader pic since I was in the crowd Saturday morning, but I didn't see me.

I live here in the ABQ area and love to see the ballons each year. I only hate the extra traffic in the city during rush hour, but it's worth it.

Joel

I can imagine what it is like to live here. Coming from a resort state you find out quickly that a lot of people that come to visit forget that people have to go to work.

Awesome Pictures Bob. I gotta go one day myself.

I saw the cow flying as I drove by on my commute to work this morning. Always odd to see an 80 ft tall cow flying around. They don't always get it off the ground due to its size, but surely a sight to see when they do. I do NOT envy their chase crew. :)

Joel

I'd sure like to see those. Just wondering though, don't they bump into each other up there? What happens?

They had a picture in the newspaper of the basket of one going down on to the top of another one. The man in the basket had a very concerned look. The officials do a good job at launching them so that there is little contact. It looks like chaos, but there is a method to their madness.