Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!

Every year since the 70's, Albuquerque has hosted a hot air balloon festival. This year it lasted from October 3rd-11th. Every morning they would have a mass ascension right after dawn. At night the festival hosted a balloon glow after dusk where balloons would inflate but stay on the ground, then the balloon operators blow flames into the balloon to illuminate it from within. Unfortunately, the night we went to the balloon glow, the winds were too high, and the balloons kept getting blown over, so the balloonists were forced to pack up their balloons.



On the second day of the festival, Sunday, October 4th, Bob and I got up at 4:30am to get to the fiesta with plenty of time to park, get a breakfast burrito, and find a good spot to watch the balloons.

First balloon up! Bob got a good shot of the moon behind the torch of the balloon. This balloon had a huge US flag that unfurled from the bottom of the gondola as it took off.
The Beginning. First the crew (notice the pirate hat) takes the balloon out of the carrying case and spreads it out on the ground.
Next they roll out a huge fan and generator. The fan blows air into the balloon while other crew members hold the opening open.
The inside of the balloon being blown up by the fan only.
Next they light up the torch. As the air inside the balloon heats up, the balloon and gondola tilt upright.
And off they go! Several people hold on the the basket and walk along with the balloon until it has enough lift to spring into the air. Then fiesta volunteers blow their whistles and get everyone out of the way so they don't get mowed over by the balloon basket. Then the people holding on to the basket let go, and the balloon takes off. The balloon operator for this balloon had two rolls of streamers that he tipped over the side as they took off so the balloon had a pretty little 'tail'. Then the crew members that helped the balloon take off pack up their van or truck and 'chase' the balloon to where it lands. At the landing they all have breakfast, pack up the balloon, and go home.
Tons of balloons took off in a matter of a couple hours. As you can see, there were tons of balloons and tons of people. It seemed like it took about 10 people to get the balloon up into the air, then each balloon would have 30-50 spectators who moved from balloon to balloon as each one took off.
Pepsi, proud sponsor of the fiesta!
Balloons taking off as the sun rises.


We had a great morning at the park! It was 48 degrees when we started before sunrise and 67 degrees when we left around 9am. The park is usually used for a golf course, so it was a huge grassy field that spectators could go walk around on, and the balloonists didn't have to worry about snagging their balloon fabric on rocks or sharp sticks. Encircling the golf course were vendors and little shops set up like a street fair or county fair. So we got to pig out on fair food while we waited for the action to begin, however, the fair food isn't quite the same as in Iowa. They are big into burritos down here for breakfast and dinner. They sold things called Frito pies which are like walking tacos but with Fritos, traditional chili, lettuce, tomato, and cheese. And everything has red or green chili on it: burgers, corndogs, etc. Also, instead of having lemon shake ups they have 'agua fresca' which is a melon infused water, kind of like lemonade but with melon instead of lemons. But we did get a funnel cake and mini donuts, yum!


Now we have been to a balloon festival in Colorado Springs and in Albuquerque. Both of them were very interesting, colorful, and fun to attend. We definitely recommend it.

Honeymoon!

Here are some pictures from our honeymoon cruise. We had a really good time seeing everything and eating until we exploded. The uploader thing for the blog put these in a weird order, so what you see is not how we experienced it. I am going to try to put the description of the picture below the image, I hope that works out!
(above) One of the formal nights with a perfect sunset.

Ketchikan - We went on a canoe trip around a lake and then for a little hike. This was called a nothern rainforest or something like that. The ground was really spongy and the plants were going crazy. There were little trees growing on bigger trees, funguses everywhere, lichens hanging off of branches, etc. This is a fungus called chicken of the woods.
Juneau - It was about 50 degrees and rained the entire time we were there. We stopped at this crab shack that was listed as one of the 10 places you must eat before you die. We took a foray into dungness crab with a crab leg, crab cake and crab bisque. It was good, but not worth dying over like in 'Dangerous Catch'.
Juneau - Stuff was more expensive in Alaska. We thought this sign was funny.
Juneau - The state capital building...not the most grand or beautiful thing in the world, but I guess it gets the job done.
Juneau - This sign was in one of the chambers of the capital. They have only 20 people in their state senate.
Juneau - Bob switched coats with me because mine was heavy and not very warm. Hehe.
Another formal night.
Seattle - Bob with his Starbuck's coffee in front of the famous Pike Place Market. It was crazy inside - the market just kept going and going. They had everything you could ever want: cheese, flowers, sea food, crafts, etc. And it overlooks the bay.
Seattle - The first Starbucks! My partner numbers didn't work so I had to pay full price for the first time!
Seattle - Our hotel was insane! It was a really fancy hotel in the first place, but then because we said it was our honeymoon, they gave us the biggest suite on the 38th floor. We could see the whole city and the bay. It was so nice! The bathroom alone was about as big as a standard room. Bob is pretending to be a big roller reading the Wall Street Journal in his luxurious suite.
Victoria, British Colombia - Our day here was wonderful. The weather was perfect, and the city is known for having flowers everywhere. This is the legislative building for the distric. It was really beautiful, and they had a great tour that we went on where we learned that Canada's government is a little crazy.
Ketchikan - We saw tons of salmon here. This is a stream that had salmon trying to jump up river. It looked impossible! You can see a little salmon jumping about halfway up on the left side of the photo.
Ketchikan - Salmon swimming in the bay waiting to go upstream.
Ketchikan - Caviar! People were catching the salmon off of a little bridge - here are some eggs on the sidewalk.
Ketchikan - This was someone's apartment. These dogs looked like statues - they were just hanging out in the sun wearing their sunglasses - it was so cute!
Ketchikan - Some people fishing for salmon - someone caught one!
Ketchikan - The sun finally came out! Southern Alaska is so rainy and foggy and chilly, but this day was one of their rare sunny days, and it was 70! So nice! This picture shows a harbor and the older part of town. Those brightly colored buildings are along a street that is suspended over a creek on poles. It was the rougher part of town full of debauchery back in the day, now it's just touristy shops.
One day, the ship went up a fjord to a glacier. Here is a baby glacier we saw on the way. The whole fjord looked like this - big rock walls with evergreen shrubs, tons of waterfalls and lots of little baby glaciers. We were glued to the window the whole way!
The glacier!
Glacier - isn't it more blue than you would have thought? I thought it would be whitish like snow or ice in the freezer. It was beautiful.
The captain spun the ship around by this glacier so every side of the boat could see it, so we got some really good pictures. There were some sea birds and a seal swimming around in the fjord. Very pretty and kind of surreal.