{"id":3030,"date":"2017-10-13T00:21:08","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T00:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/?page_id=3030"},"modified":"2017-10-28T20:07:08","modified_gmt":"2017-10-28T20:07:08","slug":"albuquerque-balloon-fiesta","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/our-rv-adventures-2017\/six-month-western-vacation\/albuquerque-balloon-fiesta\/","title":{"rendered":"Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have joined \u201cThe Boomers\u201d group, an offshoot of the Escapees organization that supports RVers, for the Balloon Fiesta.\u00a0 Obviously, these folks are all around our age, so it is a very cohesive bunch. \u00a0And they like to party!\u00a0 Happy hour every evening, dinners out, activities \u2013 a very fun group.<\/p>\n

The Boomers regularly offer to be crew for balloonists, so the first day of the fiesta we found ourselves crewing for the Gary Michalek and his balloon \u201cOslive Vzducho\u201d, which means \u201cAsses Aloft\u201d in Czech!\u00a0 The morning started with the raising of the American Flag and a “candle burn”.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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Gary – Filling the Balloon with Hot Air<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Crew Members Mimi and Penny before the launch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Our balloon being “kissed” by another during take-off<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Many Fun Shaped Balloons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Many Fun Shaped Balloons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Judith – Wishing for a Balloon Ride<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were part of the first wave of balloons to lift off, so we did not get to watch the big ascension of other balloons — we left to “chase” Gary and his balloon and assisted in the landing.\u00a0 \u00a0Did you know that the envelope of the balloon weight 600+ pounds?\u00a0 It was interesting\u00a0 to learn how the balloon works, but too much of a rush and we didn\u2019t get a chance to know Gary and his team very well. \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

We did have an excellent evening though, as we went to the \u201cglow\u201d where the balloons stay on the ground but inflate and then all turn their burners on at once.\u00a0 A fabulous display of color, and we could walk among them while it was happening.\u00a0 Very cool!<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

We\u00a0were coaxed into helping Gary the next day as well, as Mark turned out to be an excellent chase car driver.\u00a0 It was a PERFECT day, winds about 4 miles an hour, sunny, just a bit cool, and we were a part of the second wave, which meant we got to see many balloons take off.\u00a0 The “Zebras” give the final “lift off” OK and attempt to keep the chaos to a minimum.<\/p>\n

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Two Zebras on the Launch Field<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Gary, Mimi, & Penny<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fun Shapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Al, Carol & John, & Karen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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AND, Gary asked if I wanted to go up, and I said YES (well, first I said no, and then I said maybe, and then I said yes).\u00a0 FANTASTIC!\u00a0 I was scared but decided to just do it, and I\u2019m so glad I did!\u00a0 My good friend Carol Herr took a video of us taking off, check it out!<\/p>\n

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Judith, prepare for lift off!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Judith & the balloon, floating away!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Judith & the balloon, floating away!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Video:\u00a0 Thanks Carol for the video<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

We flew for 1 \u00bd hours, which is amazing because sometimes it\u2019s a very short ride, depending on wind conditions.\u00a0 We landed in a guy\u2019s front yard, turned out he was a former crew member of some famous pilot and was thrilled to have us!\u00a0 So I can check that off my bucket list (was it on my bucket list?).\u00a0 I\u2019m just sorry Mark didn\u2019t experience it as well.<\/p>\n

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Judith, receiving her flight certificate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fun Shapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fun Shapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We have had fun with friends Cindi and Roger Olson, Carol and John Herr, and new friends Ann and Bob Schumann.\u00a0 When we were volunteering at Casa Grande, we had talked with Ann and Bob, telling them about the site and offering suggestions on where they should go in Sedona.\u00a0 Turns out they are our next door neighbors here in this the field of 1100+ RV\u2019s!\u00a0\u00a0 We visited the balloon museum with them yesterday.<\/p>\n

Our last day at the Fiesta, we did not go to the launch field — but the balloons came to us.\u00a0 Many, many flew right over our trailer (the Bighorn), and I thought one was going to land on our roof!\u00a0 Quite a few landed in the field next to where we were parked!<\/p>\n

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Balloons over our Bighorn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fun Shapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fun Shapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Balloons over our Bighorn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fun Shapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Balloons over our Bighorn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fun Shapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Balloons over our Bighorn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fun Shapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fun Shapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Landing in the field next to the RVs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Balloons over our Bighorn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"\u00a0\u00a0 \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Pictures say it best \u2013 enjoy way too many photos of us and the balloons!\u00a0 (But it is down from the 850+ photos taken!)\u00a0 The sky filled with beautiful balloons is truly an amazing sight!<\/p>\n

Next Post:\u00a0 Rock Art Ranch<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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We have joined \u201cThe Boomers\u201d group, an offshoot of the Escapees organization that supports RVers, for the Balloon Fiesta.\u00a0 Obviously, these folks are all around our age, so it is a very cohesive bunch. \u00a0And they like to party!\u00a0 Happy hour every evening, dinners out, activities \u2013 a very fun group. The Boomers regularly offer … Continue reading Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2739,"menu_order":88,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3030","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3030"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3153,"href":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3030\/revisions\/3153"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/yourpcgeek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}