This morning as I left for work I noticed that it was a bit colder than the previous mornings! And that bit of cold made me think about the time of year and just as I was walking to my car I heard that familiar noise that told me it's Fall! That noise was the sound of the propane burner from a hot air balloon! I love to see the balloons up in the early morning hours. So this means that the Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta starts in 9 days!!!! I am sure this weekend there will be plenty of balloons in the air in preparation for the big event. They say that at least a million people will make their way for this event. The RV park across from the balloon field is starting to fill up!! They seem to come earlier each year! Well, you want to get the best spot!! Even though any where is best since the balloons can fly in any direction! The Balloon Park is located on the north side of the city. It's about the size of 54 football fields. I'm not sure how many balloons are expected this year. Somewhere in the 700 to 800 range. Can you imagine hundreds of balloons of different shapes, sizes and color up in the sky? It's just beautiful.
What makes it so special here? According to the balloonists they love to fly here and look forward to coming for the event. There's a 'box effect' that they enjoy. What that is, they can leave the balloon field, say going south. They can then change altitudes and head back north, change again, go east, etc. The box effect is because of the winds coming over the Sandia Mountains, which is located east of the city. There are days that the box effect isn't available. One of the most popular events is the Special Shapes. They have two days devoted to just them. It's wonderful to watch these different shaped balloons flying over the city. I heard that Darth Vadar will be here this year!!
I am pretty excited about the Fiesta coming up on October 6th. It runs for 9 days. Hope that the weather will cooperate this year. Sometimes there are days that the winds are too strong for anyone to fly. Sometimes the pilots are allowed to fly at their own discretion. Sometimes it's just too dangerous. Some of them get blown into power lines. So they take their chances.
I haven't been on a hot air balloon. At one time it seemed like fun. Then I see that sometimes they have hard landings and there's not much you can do about it. If you fall out, you fall out. Not from way up in the sky. When they land and the baskets take up hard landings and go bouncing on the ground. Some people get thrown out. Not many seem to get hurt bad. It just doesn't look like fun. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to get in one.
Hopefully by the time the event starts I'll know how to put pictures here and share them. Wish me luck!!!!
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