Our First Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta! Part 2

Part of the Mass Ascension directly overhead of our campground.

Part 2.   The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Recap

*Disclaimer* - We are not professional ballooners by any stretch of the imagination and know just enough to know we don’t know much!

Not only was this our first time ever attending the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, but it also happened to be the 50th anniversary of the event!  As complete air balloon newbies it was awesome to find ourselves in the VIP section of one of the largest balloon event in the world, attending this events has been on Andrea’s bucket list for quite some time.  To say we were excited would be an understatement even if we did not know exactly what to expect. 

Arriving at the fiesta was an amazing experience all by itself! 

Our first Airstream rally was a blast.

The Airstream club people did an amazing job.  Getting 150 Airstreams owners and their quirky personalities, to meet, caravan and park in such a timely and orderly fashion was a feat itself.  Seeing Airstream after Airstream parading down the highway and into the campground had been something we only imagined before this trip.  To be part of it was a blast!

Dawn Patrol was our favorite part of the event.

Each morning during the pre-dawn hours, a few select balloons, the Dawn Patrol, were launched in darkness to test the conditions of the “box”.  This is the name of the wind pattern that allows the balloons to take off and land in the same spot, making Albuquerque one of the premier spots for ballooning in the world. Getting to see up close the glow of the balloon in contrast to the darkness of the early morning hours created a lasting memory for us and was by far one of our favorite events of the week. 

Since this was our first airstream rally, we did not know anyone else in the group, but we were blessed by our “random” neighbors.  Larry, Susan, and their fiddle were joy for our ears and our hearts.  Hearing their stories of full timing for five years, beating cancer, and playing music around the country, made for many a delightful conversation.  It’s amazing how the universe is always working in your favor if you are open to seeing or in this case, hearing it!

If you are coming to this event for a restful night’s sleep, you may want to think twice. 

Being so close to the event meant we were constantly under the flight of helicopters testing the weather conditions, event announcers updating the activities, and a special shout out to the ABQ garbage folks who thoroughly emptied our trash every morning at 230 am.  😊 However, you can catch up on sleep a bit by napping in the afternoon during the daily break between events. 

Took this picture while sitting outside the Queen having our morning coffee. You can see how close we are to the launch field.

In a campground full of other Airstream owners, the most asked questions we received were about our Renogy solar suitcase.   People were fascinated to know how we got by on such little power and why we did not have rooftop solar.  (We will dive into this in a future blog with more specifics on how we do this.)

These conversations were especially insightful to have with one of our neighbors we politely referred to as “Generator Bob”.  He is what we would call a “slow converter” to solar and instead relies on running his two Honda generators to power his 31-foot Airstream.  While Honda makes a great generator and they are fairly quiet, being known as “Generator Bob” in a campground of 150 others, is not necessarily a term of endearment.  We can only hope for his future neighbors that he follows up on our conversation and all the pictures he took of our set up.  😊

Unfortunately, the weather conditions kept the balloon crews and fiesta staff on their toes resulting in numerous events being cancelled during our four day stay.  We did get to enjoy one night of their famous fireworks show which definitely did not disappoint!  No matter how much planning you do, sometimes Mother Nature has her own agenda and while we did not get to see everything we hoped to, the area did receive some much-needed rainfall. 

Now, if you want to attend this event in your own camper but you don’t have an Airstream, what can you do? 

Other clubs such as Escapees (No specific camper required, just pay a membership fee) had their own camping area a few blocks from ours.  There are several other camping areas at the event that allow various types of RVs in them that you reserve directly through the event.   You must do so way ahead of time as they sell out quickly.  2023’s RV reservations open on January 11th.

For us the memories of these four days were well worth the cost to be so close to the event!  The sights, sounds, and smells, of it were something we won’t soon forget!

Chasing down and crossing off bucket list items one at a time!

See you all down the road.