Balloons….Balloons everywhere!!!!!
Posted by Pete | Posted in News | Posted on 04-10-2010
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Albuquerque during balloon fiesta is surely a sight to behold. Mass ascension is something else. I don’t go every year, but when family is in town, we go. Being up close and witnessing all the commotion required to get them blown up and off the ground in an orderly fashion is truly a sight to behold…They have referees, in striped shirts and whistles no less, telling the balloonist when they can lift off….I don’t know the balloon count this year, but it is over 500 I am sure…A couple of years ago I think there was around 700…The special shapes are nice…beer cans, stage coach, Old Mrs. Hubbard’s house with children clinging to the sides, pigs, cows, chilies, whiskey bottles, all the children and us young at heart love the special shapes…They usually go last as most of them are so big…They may be harder to control also, but I really don’t know about that…This year the winds have been taking them south and southeast…I live due west of the balloon park and have only had one balloon visit our area. Sweetie was out watering and one was just overhead and they spoke to her and waved. One always knows they are coming as every dog in the neighborhood is out greeting them, barking at the propane torch providing the hot air for the balloon. The famed Albuquerque box is not working this year, so far….that is where the balloonist can lift off, go to four different heights, picking up winds in all four directions in one of those altitudes and come back to where he lifted off or at least close to where he lifted off….Always the first full week of October…Our town is full of hot air, er, balloons that is….It is nice and a good time for full time residents to stay close to home….busy, busy town….
I bet the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is a sight to behold. I remember when the biggest thing in Albuquerque in October was the State Fair. I went every year for four years straight and saw the same thing every year. I didn’t see much at the New Mexico State Fair, but I did see a lot of girls and that was important to a young GI from Kirtland. I wonder how the Balloon Fiesta has effected the attendance at the Fair. Perhaps the fiesta is over by the time the fair begins. I suppose the New Mexico State Fair provide good training. My wife and I have attended the Arkansas State Fair ever year for 30 years (except for a few years that we went to the War Eagle fair instead) and saw just about the same thing each year. In this state, the War Eagle fair is the best and is probably attended by more people.
Now the state fair is in September. It is over a week or two before the fiesta begins. The children love the midway but the real visit is to the arts and crafts, and livestock showing. My wife has had neices and nephews take home the grand prize on a couple of occasions….Nice, huh?
That’s right! It was in September in the Sixties too. The Arkansas State Fair as well as the War Eagle fair are in October. I guess that is the thing that had me confused.
We love to go to Eureka Springs and Rogers, as well as War Eagle Mill. When you go up to the bean palace at War Eagle, the plaque on the wall that speaks of Peter Van Winkle is my sweeties great-grand father..He owned a saw mill in Van Winkle Hollow…Park on Hwy 12 and walk thru the hollow sometimes….Pete
Today I attended my first mass ascension and needless to say it’s absolutely breathtaking being on the field! I agree with you, Pappy, the balloon fiesta is certainly something that people should see first hand… the set-up is unbelievable. It’s amazing how small a balloon can look from the sky, yet how large it is standing next to one. This year I saw one with chili peppers on it– now what’s more New Mexican than a chili pepper hot air balloon?!?
Yes, No. 2 grand daughter, being up close makes the balloon fiesta…One really needs to be there at least once, huh? Pappy