Wednesday morning we made our way over the mountains:
to Albuquerque – in the distance:
We are staying at the Balloon Fiesta RV Area that is across the street from the Launching Field. The Fiesta starts on Saturday, October 2, 2010 but we decided a few months back to come in early and check it all out. We are staying with the Boomers (a sub group of the Escapee RV Club) until October 11 (the fiesta ends on October 10). Here is our parking area – there will be a total of 30 rigs for our small rally.
Once we were all settled in, Andy and I took a walk around the RV area, met more of our fellow Boomers and had a great time chatting. During our Happy Hour, Judy and Luke, our hosts, explained many of the things we will be seeing and doing over the next week (which is a great help for us newbies – :-).
And Happy Hour was followed by dinner at one of the local eateries – great time.
We are so excited to be here and experience this – it has been on our Bucket List for a long time. We also hope to crew – more details later.
Wednesday’s Travel Stats:
Miles Traveled: 27 Miles
Routes Traveled:
New Mexico: SR-333; US-40; I-25; Alameda Blvd
On Thursday morning, we headed over to the Balloon Fiesta grounds for crew training. We saw a video and walked around the park (it is HUGE!) to get familiar with the field markings.
The field:
Hard to believe in less than two days, this field will be filled with over 500 Balloons and thousands of people.
We stopped to watch a pilot cold filling his balloon. Check out the size of the balloon versus the van and the person – WOW!
Many of the Boomers have crewed for Mike Liberti and his family for the past few years so during our Happy Hour, he came to talk with us about ballooning and safety and what to expect being part of his crew.
Mike is the person in the center (standing, white shirt):
Judy, Luke and Mike have really prepared us for the next week – thank you so much! Tomorrow we get to practice what we have learned – the excitement is building – :-))).
We spent the evening with Madeline and Jerry at the Sandia Casino, having dinner and trying our luck at the slots – LOL!! Great time.
Just an FYI – two links to more information on Ballooning in New Mexico and the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta:
http://www.itsatrip.org/albuquerque/ballooning-capital/balloon-culture/default.aspx
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