edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
OK, my wife got an idea a few weeks back (maybe 3-4 weeks back) to go and see the balloon fiesta in Albuquerque, NM. Driving there is not long for us, close to 400mls one way, but booking hotel turned out to be pain. I really never paid much attention to that event, but apparently it is the biggest balloon gathering in the world. So, all hotels were booked, except one, which we could have for a small amount of $1,700 a night.
Luckily, I found some Sure Stay collection by Best Western in Santa Fe, which sounds good, but it really isn't. Santa Fe on other hand is always pleasant place.
Anyway, after my wife finished working on Friday, we packed our Tiguan, kids in, and hit the road. We got to hotel at 10pm. Plan was to sleep a bit and wake up at 02.30am and hit the road. So we did. Sleep sos so, for me at least, but we manage to get out around 03.15am. We got to balloon fiesta park around 4am. However, the amount of vehicles trying to get in was absolutely insane. Anyway, with some problems (traffic organization by Albuquerque PD was not the best) we managed to park vehicle around 05.15 am. By 06.00 we actually found a spot on the bleachers right in front of balloon crews. That is about a time when reconnaissance took off. Their job is to report conditions before what is known as "mass ascension:"
Around 07.15 am things started to really move on:
There were numerous foreign crews. I managed top catch German and French crew, but I saw vans with flags from Australia, Great Britain, Taiwan, SAR, Japan, Poland.
Overall, great experience. They say around 500 crews participate. The fiesta lasts two weeks and is full of various events. But the biggest event is "mass ascension," which is this massive take-off at 07.00 am. It happens on Saturdays and Sundays over two weeks. Other than that, there are a bunch of food stands, concerts, etc. We just came to see mass take off and went back to the hotel. We slept some, went out with the kids to eat in Santa Fe, and went back to Colorado Springs today.
Luckily, I found some Sure Stay collection by Best Western in Santa Fe, which sounds good, but it really isn't. Santa Fe on other hand is always pleasant place.
Anyway, after my wife finished working on Friday, we packed our Tiguan, kids in, and hit the road. We got to hotel at 10pm. Plan was to sleep a bit and wake up at 02.30am and hit the road. So we did. Sleep sos so, for me at least, but we manage to get out around 03.15am. We got to balloon fiesta park around 4am. However, the amount of vehicles trying to get in was absolutely insane. Anyway, with some problems (traffic organization by Albuquerque PD was not the best) we managed to park vehicle around 05.15 am. By 06.00 we actually found a spot on the bleachers right in front of balloon crews. That is about a time when reconnaissance took off. Their job is to report conditions before what is known as "mass ascension:"
Around 07.15 am things started to really move on:
There were numerous foreign crews. I managed top catch German and French crew, but I saw vans with flags from Australia, Great Britain, Taiwan, SAR, Japan, Poland.
Overall, great experience. They say around 500 crews participate. The fiesta lasts two weeks and is full of various events. But the biggest event is "mass ascension," which is this massive take-off at 07.00 am. It happens on Saturdays and Sundays over two weeks. Other than that, there are a bunch of food stands, concerts, etc. We just came to see mass take off and went back to the hotel. We slept some, went out with the kids to eat in Santa Fe, and went back to Colorado Springs today.
