The rest of Albuquerque

We had some pretty ugly weather and the rest of the balloon launches were canceled, but we found some other things to do.
We took a tram ride to the top of Sandia Peak rising 1000 feet in about 13 minutes. The view was magnificent!

Day 2 of the Balloon Fiesta

Yes, we got up about 5:30 am. The Dawn Patrol Balloon was checking out the weather about 6:00.

Our plan: find a balloon and volunteer to work!




We got to the field and decided to have breakfast first. Mitch, Jerry, Anna Lee, Jerry, and I got serious about our breakfast burritos and coffee. After all is was still dark.


We got out on the field and wandered around trying to find the rest of our group. All of a sudden there were yells to back up and the Wells Fargo balloon carrying the American Flag to start off the morning flew right over our heads. We could reach up and touch the flag!

What could be more exciting than that?!

Carmen Miranda (aka Chick-a-Boom)

We got down to the field and found the rest of our group. They had volunteered to help the ground crew for Carmen Miranda. She was all spread out and needed to be held up, velcroed up, blown up....

So Mitch worked on her orange,






Shelly, Lois, and Kim held the ropes out front so air could be blown in first to get her blown up before the hot air was turned on. David was holding the rope attached to the top of her head.

























She's all blown up!!! And the crew is now holding her down. She's also tethered to the truck!










The pilot yells, "Back up!", and releases the tether. Play the video to see what happens next!




And there she is--airborne in all her beauty!

The Chase is On!!

The balloon is launched and the crew asks if we would help with the chase and recovery. Duh--yes!!! So the real crew gets into the truck and the five of us pile into the open bed to....









speed down the streets of Albuquerque. Hadn't
done that forever either! The balloon was down about seven/eight miles away.




Tragically, one of the balloons had hit some power lines (killing one pilot and injuring the other) so the streets were blocked and we were rerouted.




Our balloon was already down, but it must have been a good field, because all of a sudden there were balloons coming down all over the place. Because the wind was a little high, we were all over the place helping to get the gondolas stopped before they were dragged all over or tumbled about.







When the rest of the balloons were safe, it was time to get serious about our work. The flying crew had already straightened her out, but we went to work folding her in on herself and getting all the air out.









She was then carefully stuffed in her rucksack but a little (or a lot) of "mass" was needed to get all the air out if possible.

Mitch and David supplied the "mass".









She was carefully loaded into the truck and we were almost ready to head back.












However, there was the opening of the champagne to celebrate the flight and a funky little ceremony that was a lot of fun.

The fourteen of us enjoyed the celebration. Champagne at 9:30 in the morning isn't too bad!

He-Bee and She-Bee

These are some crazy balloons. They are two balloons are are launched at the same time. They go up holding hands (velcro, the real industrial stuff!).

Then, if the wind is right--they kiss in midair. Eventually the wind sends them apart to land separately.

Just for Stacy

This is one big Spam can! And you should have seen the lines--you would have thought they were giving away $1,000,000!

John and Pat--again!

It is so much fun to run into friends in all different parts of the country--and here they were again. We knew they would be in Albuquerque and were able to spend a couple of nights playing "Hand and Foot".