Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta – The First Morning

One of the members of the Camera Club of Richmond told me about how wonderful the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is. This confirmed for me that this was one place we wanted to be for sure this year. Of all the places that we have been in the last 116 days, this is the one of the most anticipated. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the largest in the world, partly because of wind conditions that are especially beneficial. The “Albuquerque Box” has winds near the ground that blow in one direction, but higher up they blow in the opposite direction. This allows a balloon to ascend and return to its original spot! It was difficult to believe until I saw it.

This thing starts early! The first event is at 5:45 a.m. and keep in mind travel, parking, etc., so some people I have talked to left home at 3:30 a.m. Don’t worry, the main morning event, the “mass ascension” is at 7:00 a.m. This is the one you don’t want to miss.

The best decision we have made is to camp at the RV Lot provided by the Fiesta. There are over 1100 RVs here! We are only minutes away via the free shuttle.

If you have a camera, you are going to take hundreds of photos. This is one of the most photographed events in the world. I have found it to be very difficult to pare down the number of photos for a post. I have already taken hundreds and this is only the first day of the week long Fiesta.

It is still early morning, but time to head back to the RV to get some rest. Looking forward to the evening events that start soon!