I learned about the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival ttp://www.balloonfiesta.com standing in line in the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. I was sandwiched and invisible between two groups of passengers. Both groups were noisy and brimming with excitement and laughter. Hearing their load conversations I learned they were all headed for the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival.
Later, as our plane glided through the air in approaching Albuquerque, I could see the balloons suspended in the air. That was it! I knew I would be joining that excited group from Ft. Lauderdale to see the world’s largest balloon fest
Early Morning....Best Time for Us
During the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta there is a full week of balloons and pure excitement in from pre-dawn to late nights. Our choice was to see the balloons in the early morning. A few days later we woke at 4:30 am and not long after, at 6:00 a.m., we found ourselves in the middle of 78 acres of balloon land. The balloons were in various stages of being lifeless and pancaked out on the ground. Or they were half blown up and still on their backs like gigantic, patterned jelly fish. The best balloons, though, were fully blown. They were lighting up like enormous and colorful light bulbs each time they were injected with hot air flames.
When we got there, the sun was yet to come up. So, for an hour I hung on to the dark and those extraordinary balloons momentarily lighting up. There is no separation of the balloons from the hundreds of balloonists and enthusiasts that come from all parts. I was walking around in the midst of it all, waiting until 7:00 am, sunrise and for what would be the ascension. Like the passengers that boarded a plane with me in Ft. Lauderdale, I, too, was caught up in pure excitement.
Magic in the Morning
The Balloon Fiesta takes place over the course of a whole week. There is much more that goes on during that week. Trust Albuquerque to have all kinds of activities and excitement when you are not up in the air in a balloon. Although we were there for the 7:00 a.m. “Flight of the Nations Mass Ascension” (Yes, that’s the name), I would love to return next year for the Evening After Glow. After the sun goes down, the balloons are all lit in the dark. Magic in the evening, so this is another time you might want to be there.
You don’t have to only watch the baloons up high in the air. You can also take a ride in one. Start searching here: https://www.rainbowryders.com/
All in all it was magic. It was as if I woke up on Christmas morning, opened my eyes, and found that all the ornaments on the tree had detached their beauty from the branches to suspend themselves motionless above my bed.
