Balloon Fiesta (Festival)

For years, we have been trying to attend the Albuquerque Balloon Festival but it just never "fit" our travels. If you plan to go with the RV caravans, you have to sign up many months in advance—it's a popular trip. My experience was that by mid-February, most of the groups were filled! So, our trying to plan for this trip was a hassle and always inconvenient to our lifestyle.

Last year, we visited an old friend as we passed through El Paso, Texas. He is a competitive "Chuckwagon Cook" and has been on Food TV. We learned that he would be cooking in a national competition held in Ruidoso, NM the same weekend that the Balloon Festival ends (it's a 10-day show). So, we signed up for a caravan to attend the first half (5 days) of the Festival and then headed to Ruidoso.

[Author's Note… More on the cooking competition next on the blog.]

Trying to get a reservation meant contacting several caravan companies. I'm a believer that some venues are better to visit with a caravan and some are better on your own. Those big gatherings where you need some "local" information or where there are a gazillion RVs are easier when you go with a group that has been there before and knows the ins and outs. Not to belabor this but the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena is the perfect venue for an RV caravan. The Balloon Festival is doable on your own as we learned but the first time was a bit easier using a caravan.

We went with Yankee RV Tours. I had met the owner of Yankee a few months earlier and he allowed me to customized the trip to fit my needs. I wanted the first five days. None of the other caravan companies could offer me that option. They did offer the last five days but that wouldn't work for me as we planned to visit the cooking competition.

We Arrive in Albuquerque
This was one of those caravans were we did not drive together but simply met in a designated location. That location was the official  RV parking for the Balloon Festival. We pulled in on Friday (the designated day we were supposed to arrive) one day before the official start of the Festival.

We got in a double line that moved pretty fast. At registration, we simple tell them we are with Yankee RV Tours (we have no paperwork) and they tell us to follow this golf cart. We do. He takes us to the Yankee sites where we are met by the Wagonmaster and he shows us our site. It is an easy back-in like you find in a larger campground. We meet and greet those that are here and everything is good.

This huge field is/will be filled with RVs of every description. There are lots of sites with water and electric (30 amp) and lots of boondocking sites. We are on mostly sand, there's very little dust, the water trucks are spraying the driving lanes, it is crowded, and more RVs (large and small) are arriving constantly.

Day One
Let me preface this section by saying that I hate to get up in the morning—HATE it. I've been this way forever, I don't apologize for it, it's me, it's the way I am. I am definitely a night person.

When do they launch the first balloons? Pre-dawn! I always thought that was normally called "night." Okay, I have to get up—at least once.

What happens is this... They first launch the "Dawn Patrol." That is about six balloons that will check on everything from up in the sky—wind conditions, etc. They make sure everything is safe for the major launch.

With the "thumbs-up" from the Dawn Patrol that everything is safe, the "Pre-Dawn Launch" is a number (my guess is about 25 balloons) that do what they called a "Morning Glow." This is where the pilots fire up the balloons but hold them on the ground. The balloons are being lit from the inside with the flame. When this group launches (note that it is still dark but bordering on daybreak as shown in the photo), as they fire the balloons to gain altitude, the sky is filled with balloons giving off this intermittent "glow"—an amazing sight like no other.

Sidebar... Here's how it works! This valley and surrounding mountains just happen to be situated so that they create a "box"—made up of wind currents. The "box" (prevailing winds) allows the balloons to take off, flying low in one direction for some distance, they fire the balloons to gain altitude, then travel back the opposite direction! It is odd to stand here and watch balloons passing each other going in opposite directions. Most of them head out of town to land.

Then, daybreak. At 0700 hrs, they release the first of the balloons for what they call the "Mass Ascension" and will continue to do this constantly for two hours. There were 550 balloons waiting to launch one day. The first day they set a record launching 350 balloons in one hour. The result... the sky is filled with balloons—a magnificent site. You will be impressed. The top photo shows a tiny portion of the "Mass Ascension."

Day Two
I'm up again thanks to Sandy (wife) who rolls me out of bed. Like yesterday, we grab a cup of coffee and step outside. Twenty feet in front of our coach we can see the tops of the balloons as they get ready to lift off. When they do, this morning they head directly for us. These things are huge. Hundreds pass overhead. Wow!

There is a fenced-off area (about an acre) just a short distance from our coach (about 20 coaches away). Some balloons are landing there. When they do, some deflate and pack up while others take off again. We assume this landing is part of a competition (balloon race?). From our perspective, we can see every detail of how they operate.

Days Three and Four
I'm up again and outside. This is fascinating. The difference from day to day is that their direction changes slightly but always in our general direction.

The fourth day there are some wind gusts and a storm is moving in. The 0700 hrs launch is delayed. Finally, about 0830 hrs the wind gusts decrease and about 250 balloons go up. Due to the winds, some are having a hard time gaining altitude and pass overhead (what seems to me to be) really low—only about 20 feet up. We can easily carry on a conversation with the balloonists. Many of them land and deflate in the fenced-off area close by. It is an interesting sight.

Although we will be gone, Day 6 they are scheduled to launch the "specialty" balloons. We really wanted to see that but just couldn't work it out. However, a number of specialty balloons launch every day so we got to see a variety of them. They are fun and interesting.

Wrap Up
This was a great trip. It is certainly best in an RV. The sights were wonderful, fascinating, and unique. While you can purchase a balloon ride, we did not for medical reasons (me). It looks like fun.

It has to be pretty special for me to roll out of bed. I'm glad I did for this event.

 





Thinking About RVing…
 You will occasionally end up in venues like the Balloon Festival where you have to do what I call "forced boondocking." We had 30 amp but no water or sewer. The classic "honey wagon" (sewage pumper) and water truck are nearly always available but they are expensive and often in the $30–$40 range for each.

If you have 40+ gallon tanks on your RV, you can survive 5-6 days easily without this expense. If you are simply running water down the drain, you will run out of fresh water and your grey tank will definitely fill.

Click here to read/review my articles on boondocking and how to live normally. We don't deprive ourselves of anything (we are definitely NOT roughing it with our RVing lifestyle) but can easily survive for 9–10 days when boondocking. This, of course, comes with practice. With the larger tank capacity of a motorhome or 5th wheel, you can do this, too. Read, learn how, practice before you need to do it, have some fun, and save some money. That sounds like a plan.