That night we all tucked in early as we
had a very early start the next morning
to catch the dawn ascension of the hot
air balloons. I’m not normally an early
morning person and you’d never normally
see me waking at 4am, but this was so
worth it! We car-pooled to a shuttle bus
that took us right to the field where the
balloons were only just starting to arrive
and set up. The weather was perfect and
not as cold as we had been warned it
might be. As the sun began to rise, so did
the balloons. Being able to stand right
next to them as they spread them out
and inflated them and then watch as, one
after another, row after row, five hundred
balloons slowly drifted upwards was
To all of you out
there wondering when
you will get around to
ticking those items of
YOUR bucket list I have
just this to say: What
are you waiting for?
something that words and photos can
never truly capture. It was mind boggling
and we were all like little kids with the
excitement and a chorus of “Oh wow’s
as we tried to take in the 360-degrees
of awesomeness as all around us, above
us and floating off into the distance were
balloons of every color, shape and size
including some pretty special character
shapes.
After enjoying a wander around
Albuquerque Old Town and a few
Margaritas and a bit of a siesta, some of
us went back to watch the Night Glow
event. Featuring many of the special
shaped balloons, the highlight this year
was a ginormous motorbike and rider
balloon that towered over everyone.
We were all sitting on a blanket under
a frog-shaped balloon that appeared to
be careening ominously close towards
us and I wondered out loud if there had
ever been any incidents of accidental
suffocation by falling balloons when the
crowd suddenly let out a big: “Oooooh!”
and we looked across
to see that a Mexican
doll-shaped character
balloon had escaped
its tether and was flying
over the fence and
away. Ten minutes later
all the balloons were
deflated as that the
increased wind made it
too dangerous to hold
them down, but our
night was capped off by
an awesome fireworks display and I was
pleased to know that I am not the only
one who gets as excited as a little kid
over fireworks!
It was such an amazing experience to be
there, I can’t recommend it enough. The
road trip there (and back, but that’s a
whole other story!), to be able to share
it with my Sister friends, many of whom I
had met before on other trips and some
brand new ones that will be friends for
life now, and some whose company I
enjoyed but will never see again (RIP
Shelly).
To all of you out there wondering when
you will get around to ticking those items
of YOUR bucket list I have just this to say:
What are you waiting for?
20 | vintagetrailermagazine