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Sunday, October 2, 2011

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

We got up at 3:00AM Saturday morning, and drove from Santa Fe to Albuquerque for the 40th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. It was amazing! We arrived in time for the "Morning Glow" of the Dawn Patrol. These 12 balloonists launch first, to check the weather conditions.




One reason Albuquerque mornings are ideal for ballooning, are the cool Albuquerque morning temperatures in October and the Albuquerque box. The "box" refers to the wind patterns that balloonists use to launch, catch the southerly winds, climb higher, catch the northern winds, descend, then repeat the box or land nearby.


As the sun began to rise, the balloons were launched in waves. There were 354 launched in one hour, breaking the world record. I don't know the exact number of balloons that were launched that morning, but there were more than 500.

There were "special shapes".....





It was a great day! If you have never been to the balloon festival - add it to your bucket list!


Happy Trails!
Deborah