Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

This past weekend, my sister and I checked off a long-awaited Bucket List item - Experiencing the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico, USA.

We had been planning this trip for about 10 years, ever since we managed to get a bit lost in a Utah desert. Somehow, that lead to us wanting to vacation together again, but there we were. However, the only way we would go was if we were able to get a glamping tent, because let's face it, neither of us are really outdoorsy folk nor did we want to deal with the traffic and headaches of getting to the field at 5am.

Positives about Glamping -

• Proximity to the Balloon Field - Approximately an 8-minute walk

• Warm beds AND they stayed dry in the torrential storms that passed through

• Fridge and tables in the tent

• Indoor shower trailers and restrooms, cleaned twice daily

• COFFEE PROVIDED EACH MORNING!

Areas for improvement (Really just minor annoyances because as stated... not outdoorsy) -

• Showers / Restroom did not have much if any counterspace, so after the rain, you had to figure out how to hang stuff so it didn't get muddy on the floor.

• Table had slots in it, so it was really hard to do a puzzle on it (more on this later)

As always, I fast forwarded a bit, let me back up and start at the beginning -

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon, both taking separate flights, but coordinated arrival times to be close. Picked up the rental car and immediately headed to Walmart to get snacks! From there, we checked into the hotel, went to our favorite restaurant from college days (Cheddars) and decided to head back out to scout potential photography spots for the next morning. We made it about a road or two away from the hotel, before we figured out that all roads around us were closed due to some fatal accident investigation, so we parked and called it a day.

Thursday morning, we got up extra early to beat the traffic to a parking spot near the Balloon Field. Turns out, we were extra early, no traffic, and second car to arrive.

From this photo spot, we just meandered around until 11am, when DAVE & BUSTERS OF ALBUQUERQUE opened. Yes, we went there because I have an addiction, but also because we had some time to waste before we could check in to glamping.

Then we checked in to the tents, which I've already told you about, settled in and headed over to the Balloon Field for the Special Shapes Glowdeo, which is where they inflate all the irregularly shaped balloons and flicker the lights, but don't take off. Well, the Albuquerque Curse continued for me and a severe storm moved in, forcing us to briskly walk, but remain calm as we tried to cross the entirety of the field in under 2 minutes, as that was all the warning we were given to seek shelter! We ended up hiding for a bit under a metal overhang (Yes, not the greatest option) until we could make our way back to our tent. Soaked and worried since we left the flaps open, we were ecstatic to find that there was only minor dripping taking place (on my sister's bed!), which she was able to contain by covering her bed with the same blanket that sheltered us under the overhang.

Luckily, we had thought a bit ahead while wasting time earlier in the day, and had a puzzle to occupy our time since the balloon events were cancelled. Word of warning, doing a dollar store quality puzzle on a sweatshirt because of the slots in the table, was a bit difficult, but we succeeded! I'm going to fast forward a bit to explain that we ended up doing a total of FIVE puzzles over the weekend as there was a lot of rain and downtime in the tent. There were also quite a few Fiesta Siestas too... At some point, we were able to buy posterboard to help with the table situation.

You get it, lots of rain and puzzles, but did we see balloons? YES! Did we see the Mass Ascension? NO! Did we get to go up in a balloon? Also, NO! Was it a unique experience that created memories?! YES!

I don't have much commentary on the remainder of the photos, other than it was really a memorable experience to stand in the middle of the field on Friday morning (the only non-rainy day) while hundreds of balloons inflated and took off around you.

The other event we really enjoyed was the Glowdeos at dusk and dawn. The participants were pretty limited due to the weather, so we really appreciated those that did show up and set up!

All in all, it was a mixture of exciting and relaxing times. Until next time Albuquerque...