Balloon Festival

Saturday, October 4th.  The first day of the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.  The Wizard balloon is the first one up. 

It was freezing cold the first morning, but Wow!! what an experience.  Pictures to not do justice.

Monitors (the zebras) will tell each balloon when they can lift off.

These pictures are taken right next to the RV park where we stayed.  This is just a short distance South of the Festival field where they take off.  554 balloons were registered this year, and I think all of them were in the air for the Sunday morning Mass Ascension.

This pilot was practicing "touch and go's".  He barely cleared our campers.  His comment was "just dropped in to say "hello"."

Below are the 5 gas balloons that took off on Sunday evening.  50 hours later the leader was over Lake Superior.  The others had already landed in Nebraska and Wisconsin.  

One of the 5 gas balloons was displaying a Georgia flag.

These gas balloons are filled with hydrogen.  The pilots drop sand bags called ballast to rise and release hydrogen to drop.   Sooner or later they run out of either sand bags or hydrogen.  One of the crew members said they always have a choice of pushing one of the 2 pilots overboard if they run out of sand bags, but it's frowned upon by the Fiesta Committee. 

 

 

Arielle the cow balloon was the largest.  Conditions have to be perfect for her to lift off.

 

 

Sunday night Balloon Glow.  This is a very popular event.  There were hundreds of balloons inflated and tethered to the ground.  They count down over the loud speakers and the balloons all light up at the same time.  Spectacular!!