Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

I purchased tickets for two morning sessions at a special viewing area called the Gondola Club. Each session included VIP Parking, and buffet meal, not to mention a splendid, unobstructed view of the Balloon Launch Field.

The Balloons did not launch during my first session on Thursday due to high winds aloft. I was disappointed, but I roamed around the Balloon Field snapping images of the inflated Balloons that remained tethered to the ground.

Sunday morning, the final day of the Balloon Fiesta I arose at 02:30 with great anticipation for what the morning had in store. I arrived at the Gondola Club, VIP Parking area, at 04:30 in hopes of getting a good parking spot for my Tractor. As I was planning this trip, my mind would wonder to an image of my Tractor with the sky filled with Balloons in the background. I knew this was fanciful, and unrealistic, and tried to put the thought out of my mind, but it persisted for several weeks leading up to the event.

I enjoyed a wonderful Breakfast that included a seafood omelette, sausage, potatoes, and much more. The meal was first class, all the way!!!

Well before the Sun's first light appeared in the sky, the Balloon Crews were hard at work preparing their Air Ships. Shortly after breakfast, the propane burners that inflate the giant Balloons began to break the darkness all across the Launch Field.

As the first rays of the early morning Sun appeared over the Sandia Mountains, a single Balloon slowly lifted into the air, then another, and then two, and then several at a time. Before long the cold, dark, autumn morning sky was filled with Balloons of ever conceivable shape, size, and color.

As I frantically snapped away, not wanting to miss a thing, I noticed that the Balloons were drifting slowly over the Gondola Club tent, and out towards the VIP Parking area where my Tractor was parked.

I grabbed my camera gear, and headed for the entrance to flag down one of the VIP golf cart parking shuttles. When I arrived at my Tractor, my fondest hope had been granted!!!
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