Flying High in Albuquerque

After a delightful stay in Pagosa Springs, we headed south to Albuquerque in time for the annual Balloon Fiesta. The Fiesta is a week-long celebration of hot air balloons that has been a major event for many years. Just about everything in town stops and focuses on balloons for the week. We planned our stay for 10 days to take advantage of lots of other things to see as well.  So, we pulled into Enchanted Trails RV park – friendly staff and a convenient location – on a Friday at the start of the Fiesta.

On the fun side was the small retro RV park they had created – and you could rent these !

There are day long activities, but we wanted most to see the mass ascension which meant a VERY early (3:30am) departure to the balloon grounds. Should mention it was also cold! But just as dawn was approaching the first of upwards of 500 hot air balloons began to launch…. welcome to this iconic New Mexico event. The following pix are just a sample….. loved all the remarkable special shapes.

With our other free time we visited the local sights, including the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. What an interesting place with native dances, displays of history and culture as well as vendors of native crafts.

On another day we visited the Biological Park. Didn’t manage to see it all, but wandered the gardens – complete with an amazing model train display and a dragon – and one of the finest aquarium displays I’ve seen.

Turns out good friends John and Tammy, from Wyoming, who are now also full time travelers (also in a Tiffen motor coach), were in town as well. This provided an opportunity to sample some of the local fare. One night we dined at the Garduno’s at Old Town in the Albuquerque Hotel for a wonderful meal.  The most fun was at the Melting Pot – a fondue restaurant. The food and service were outstanding! This was our first experience at a fondue place, and it took some helpful instruction from our server to work our way through the 4-course meal topped off with chocolate fondue!

As I write this, we are nearing the end of our stay. But made a last trip to the Fiesta to watch the “Evening Glow’ and other events……