Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Festival

Catherine purchased our hotel room a solid 9 months ago, maybe more. When we arrived at the hotel Friday evening, they had cancelled our reservation due to "issues" with the credit card. Miraculously, they still had a room just like the one we had reserved, but for more money. Instead of the three nights we had planned, we spent just the one in Albuquerque. Best Western just took the very last dollar we'll ever give them...

Anyways, we had a place to stay for the night, so we got up pretty early to brave the hordes. They estimated 100,000 people showed up for the first morning mass ascension, in which they launched 600-700 balloons (300-400 is typical). The traffic we endured getting in and out makes that sound about right.



They launched balloon after balloon for 2.5 hours - it was quite the spectacle.



Even the kids had a good time, though after the first hour, I think the fun-meter was pretty pegged.


After the show, we made our way back to Santa Fe for a nice lunch and exploring the historic downtown. We then drove the (very) scenic route to our hotel in Los Alamos. We saw quite a bit that we'd come back to for more exploring the following day. All in all, it was a very busy day.

Cheers,

Marc

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