Going to Albuquerque Balloon Fest

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chiefsfan1

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Hi all, has anybody gone to this? First time for us. Flying in Friday night. We plan on riding the tram to Sandia Tram and visit the nuclear museum. I wanted to drive to Roswell and see aliens but that's a long drive and we leave Monday. We also have a balloon ride scheduled for Sunday morning.
 
My house overlooks Albuquerque, nice views! Buy tickets early for the tram. Traffic is horrendous in the early morning for the fiesta. Note: Auto thefts are off the charts in Alb. PM if you have questions. Enjoy! Respectfully, Pajero!
 
Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Hi all, has anybody gone to this? First time for us. Flying in Friday night. We plan on riding the tram to Sandia Tram and visit the nuclear museum. I wanted to drive to Roswell and see aliens but that's a long drive and we leave Monday. We also have a balloon ride scheduled for Sunday morning.
I'm flying out this Wed AM. BIL and SIL live in Santa Fe. I've seen most of the sights in the area but never the Balloon Fest. We will drive down Saturday AM.
 
It's probably slightly faster to come in from Santa Fe rather than deal with the Albuquerque traffic. Might still be some Aspen leaves on the Sangre de Cristos
 
It's probably slightly faster to come in from Santa Fe rather than deal with the Albuquerque traffic. Might still be some Aspen leaves on the Sangre de Cristos
 
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Make sure you grab some New Mexican food. It's different than texmex and very good!
 
Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Hi all, has anybody gone to this? First time for us. Flying in Friday night. We plan on riding the tram to Sandia Tram and visit the nuclear museum. I wanted to drive to Roswell and see aliens but that's a long drive and we leave Monday. We also have a balloon ride scheduled for Sunday morning.
Don't feel too bad about not making Roswell, it's hyped a bit more than it delivers (we stayed over there in 2014, had some great food, bought some trinitite...then Albequerque for a night. http://www.unserracingmuseum.com/ Had great cars, but the staff were plain rude... I went for a walk one afternnon, and stepped off the path onto some cleared land (next to a huge drainage canal), only to find that they've got these weed seeds that are literally caltrops (turns out it's called Caltrop Weed)... Walk about six feet off the path, and dozens of tehse penetrated my flip-flops...had to stand on one foot holding down the pain to pull the things out of my other...then swap as I inched back to the path. A very courteous gentleman of colour approached me and said "excuse me sir, but you're not from around here are you ?", we had belly laughs, but the pain was unreal...
 
The mass ascensions and the balloon glows are the best. Everything is contingent on the wind. Watch out for power lines, while ballooning. Respectfully, Pajero
 
Originally Posted By: Pajero
My house overlooks Albuquerque, nice views! Buy tickets early for the tram. Traffic is horrendous in the early morning for the fiesta. Note: Auto thefts are off the charts in Alb. PM if you have questions. Enjoy! Respectfully, Pajero!
Thanks for the heads up! I told my wife. Can we buy tickets today for Sunday? The hotel has a shuttle to the fest. This will be fun.
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Make sure you grab some New Mexican food. It's different than texmex and very good!
Oh yes! she already has picked out some! I plan on bring back blue corn tortilla wraps.
 
Originally Posted By: Pajero
The mass ascensions and the balloon glows are the best. Everything is contingent on the wind. Watch out for power lines, while ballooning. Respectfully, Pajero
I bet!, we have short night Friday, we arrive at 11:10 then get up for the glow in the morning.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Hi all, has anybody gone to this? First time for us. Flying in Friday night. We plan on riding the tram to Sandia Tram and visit the nuclear museum. I wanted to drive to Roswell and see aliens but that's a long drive and we leave Monday. We also have a balloon ride scheduled for Sunday morning.
I'm flying out this Wed AM. BIL and SIL live in Santa Fe. I've seen most of the sights in the area but never the Balloon Fest. We will drive down Saturday AM.
We are driving to Sante Fe Sunday after the balloon ride to see a friend.
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Hi all, has anybody gone to this? First time for us. Flying in Friday night. We plan on riding the tram to Sandia Tram and visit the nuclear museum. I wanted to drive to Roswell and see aliens but that's a long drive and we leave Monday. We also have a balloon ride scheduled for Sunday morning.
Don't feel too bad about not making Roswell, it's hyped a bit more than it delivers (we stayed over there in 2014, had some great food, bought some trinitite...then Albequerque for a night. http://www.unserracingmuseum.com/ Had great cars, but the staff were plain rude... I went for a walk one afternnon, and stepped off the path onto some cleared land (next to a huge drainage canal), only to find that they've got these weed seeds that are literally caltrops (turns out it's called Caltrop Weed)... Walk about six feet off the path, and dozens of tehse penetrated my flip-flops...had to stand on one foot holding down the pain to pull the things out of my other...then swap as I inched back to the path. A very courteous gentleman of colour approached me and said "excuse me sir, but you're not from around here are you ?", we had belly laughs, but the pain was unreal...
Thanks for the heads up. Yes, I saw this, will try and work it in. Yeah, I'll be on the look out for those!
 
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Watching the weather. Shows some thundershowers. Probably very intermittent. I mentioned the traffic and such to my wife and she is an optimist/pragmatist...."What do you care? - Steve will be driving" True enough and he knows ways to get a view I imagine. Most of the time there, we hike the arroyos, scramble rocky areas and such. If you can, hike to some of the native rock dwellings. Pretty cool. My wife's sister lives at around 7800 feet. Very interesting. Never super hot, and pretty darn dry. Huge house (way huge for two people) on a nice parcel and they bought the land next to them. Not for me really, but cool visiting them and first time with no kids. I'm probably the odd man out but I really am not a huge fan New Mexican food. I mean it's not bad - but the whole sopaipilla thing is meh. The meats and tamales and such are good. It's definitely better than the "Mexican" food from chains, but not as good a real taquerias on the west coast. If anyone wants to try to connect - I imagine it would have to be Thursday or Friday - send me a PM or email.
 
Get a green chile cheeseburger at Blake's. Forget about Roswell. Nothing but a money making scam.Be alert at all times. Albuquerque has a very high crime rate so don't depend on quick police response. The APD is way down on manpower due to ongoing multiple federal investigations due to use of excessive force. The balloon festival always brings out low life looking for an easy mark.
 
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