Balloon Fiesta!!

     I have always wanted to go to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico and this year I got to!!  On Friday, October 10th, 2014 my friend Becky and I headed out.  We picked up Becky's friend Tawny in St George.  It was a long drive but the three of us had fun.  We met Becky's brother Wes, his girlfriend Angie and his co-worker Dratin for dinner that night.  The three of them were in Albuquerque for a conference for work.  Turns out Dratin's dad grew up in Orderville so that was kind of random.
     Saturday October 11th, 2014 we got up at 3:30 am (Too early!!) to get ready to head down to Balloon Fiesta park.  Our hotel shuttled us to a parking lot where we all got on school buses that drove us to the park.
     There were already tons of people there!  We walked out into the field and after some waiting and freezing some balloons finally started to inflate for the morning glow.

Morning glow

     They took turns lighting up like a little show.  Then some of them started taking off.

     There is something about hot air balloons in the air that I just love!!

Angie, Wes, Dratin, Me, Becky and Tawny

     Mass ascension started at 7am and lasted for over an hour!!  It was amazing!!!  There were all kinds of balloons.  Different shapes and everything.  I have never seen anything like it.  It was definitely worth getting out of bed for.

When pigs fly.

Humpty Dumpty

     When I was looking at this scene I honestly didn't feel like it was real.  I felt like I was just looking at a picture or the wallpaper of my computer screen.  So spectacular!
     After the balloons were gone we walked around and looked at all the different booths.  You could find just about anything to eat or buy.  After a while Dratin, Wes and Angie had to leave to go to their conference.  Becky, Tawny and I stayed behind because we found out there was a concert featuring Sawyer Brown, David Nail and Josh Turner.  Bonus!!  It was a lot of fun but the concert started at noon and at 4:30 before Josh Turner was done we decided to leave because we were hot and tired.  I got a good tan that day.
     We also decided it would be easier to get a bus back if the concert wasn't over.  We found the right bus and climbed on.  We were the only ones on there.  Our bus driver said "Well I have never been on a bus a lone with three beautiful women before."  Becky said, "That is nice of you to say but I am going to warn you that we are hot and tired and none of us have had a diet coke today."  So the first gas station we came to he pulled in and dropped us off.  We thought that was pretty funny.  After getting back on we were talking about how we needed to call our hotel shuttle.  The bus driver asked what hotel and when we told him he said he would just take us there.  He said he was just going to pull up on the side which we told him was fine but when we got there he pulled right up under the awning and turned the flashing red lights on and pulled out the stop sign!  We were laughing so hard!  I'm sure the bellhops where wondering what was going on!  Inside we found Wes, Angie and Dratin had just finished at their conference for the day so we headed to dinner.  We were all pretty exhausted after that so we separated for the night and went to bed.
     Sunday morning we decided we didn't need to get to the park as early.  So we met at 5:45 am to head down.  We found out though that the flag was yellow and needed to be green for the balloons to fly.  They won't fly if the winds are above 10mph and they were at 12mph.  We went anyway and hoped for the best.  We got there and they did switch the flag to green.  A few of the balloons inflated but were swaying pretty good so none of them ended up taking off.  I was glad the day before had been so good.
     We went back to our hotel and packed up and decided to go to Old Town.  But before that we stopped at the Walter White house from Breaking Bad.  I haven't watched the show but my brothers did and I knew they would enjoy a picture of the house.

 
    It got pretty exciting there.  We had heard the lady that owned the house might have the garage open and be starring us down.  She wasn't but an older couple stepped on her driveway while we were there and the garage door immediately opened and she started yelling.  She said "Get off my property, can't you read?"  So the people crossed the street and she said, "Now you are on somebody else's property.  What is wrong with you people?"  The man yelled back that they were on the side walk.  She then yelled, "You got your picture so you can leave."  The man yelled back that she could go to H%^*.  It was pretty funny.  Wes wanted to go back again.
   After that we went down to Old Town and walked around.  We did some window shopping and ate lunch.  Then it was time for everyone to head home.  We had a long drive ahead of us.  So we said our goodbyes and Becky, Tawny and I headed out.  I kind of like those short trips so I am not away from my own bed too long but this one almost seemed to short.  I have kind of missed our little group of six exploring Albuquerque.