Balloons and New Shoes

 If you thought I was full of hot air...

...then you should come to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta! An item on my bucket list, we enjoyed the phenom of flicker fires and phones. What? Read on.

But first. while hiking in Sequaro National Park, I slipped on some loose sand and banged up my elbow, hand, and hiney. Kyle was concerned that my shoes didn't have enough tread on them, so when we got to Albuquerque we found Dick's Sporting Goods and I bought a new pair of walking/hiking shoes. Say what you want about the transgender movement, but if men didn't dress in women's clothing, they never would make cute, colorful women's shoes in men's sizes. And my feet are big enough I wear a man's shoe. So I am now the proud owner of aqua men's Hoka shoes. With great tread. 

On Friday evening we took a school bus shuttle from, of all places, the Dick's Sporting Goods parking lot to Ballon Fiesta Park. As reports estimated at least 10,000 people at the event, the shuttle was the best decision of the week, including my shoe shopping decision. That evening we enjoyed the Shape Balloon Glowdeo and drone show. 

I'm so excited to finally be here!
The 53rd Albuquerque Festival theme:
"Painted Horizons"

The Glowdeo can best be described as inflated balloons tethered by ropes to the ground or controlled by ground crews, occurring after dark, with a Balloon Meister coordinating various flame sequences among the hundreds of balloons in the park. For example, the "all burn" is all balloons turning on their propane-burning flame for about 15 seconds. The entire park lights up with glowing balloons! For us, the Shape Balloon event meant a cement mixer, sloth, carousel, teddy bear, Mickey Mouse, and many other shapes, glowing under the night sky. 

Clever use of the balloon shape.

Our grandsons enjoyed our photo of the truck balloon.

Before the glow.

When we arrived we hung out near the Smokey Bear balloon, watched as they removed the balloon from its huge bag (which took 8 people to drag it), spread the balloon out on a tarp, began filling it with a fan, used various combinations of whistle blows to communicate inflating the balloon and eventually added the flame to raise Smokey to vertical position. And then he glowed! More whistles allowed the crew to coordinate deflating the balloon at the end of the evening.

Only YOU can prevent forest fires!

GLOWING!

When the Balloon Meister announced a "flicker" the pilots would turn on the flame for about 3 seconds, then off, then on, then off... And the crowd held up their cellphone flashlights, then rotated the flashlight toward the ground, then up, then down. It was a cool effect, and a drone captured the sight from above. Go to the 1:11:00 mark in the video to watch the flicker, although there are several other places in the video as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msD8xG-pRgc 

The drone show followed the Glowdeo. In the above video is the drone show we saw on Friday. Go to the 1:50:00 mark. There was an incredibly creative drone show every morning and evening. Here is the drone show from Thursday morning. After the first 9'30" of the video, the videographer included Dawn Patrol - a few balloons launch prior to the mass ascension to check out the winds aloft. 

We dearly hoped to see the mass ascension on Saturday morning, getting up at 4:45, boarding the bus at 5:30, and arriving at the park about 15 minutes later. But the weather didn't cooperate. Rain clouds and high winds at 200 - 600 feet kept the balloons grounded. However, they did inflate for a limited time, allowing us to get pictures of many unusual balloons.

Guess who?

It was very dark at 5:45 AM

Coen liked this balloon, too.

Be kind to the other 7,999 people attending.

When it appeared the morning ascension would be canceled, we decided to grab some fiesta fare before boarding the shuttle back to Dick's Sporting Goods. Oooo! A booth with fry bread and breakfast burritos! Yeeesss! 

Even though tomorrow is the last day of the fiesta, we have to pack up and hit the road, so we will miss the chance to see a final ascent. But the forecast does not look promising. However, I am so excited that even though the ascent isn't going to happen for us, we experienced some of the excitement, fun, and creativity of the fiesta.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the skies! Or on the trail with these new shoes.