After arriving back from our east coast trip we picked up our truck from Mesa, Arizona and drove two hours north to Prescott Valley to pick up our RV which was staying with our friend, Bill.
We drove all the way to Gallup, New Mexico for the night at the Elks Lodge we've stayed at several times now. It's nice to know what to expect upon arrival. In the area we filled up with diesel for $4.39/gallon.
We had a nice sunset from the Elks Lodge.
The next day we drove to Albuquerque and dumped our black and grey tanks at a gas station dump station and then went to the Elks Lodge in Albuquerque to fill up our tanks with fresh water. We'll be boondocking or dry camping at the Balloon Fiesta for 10 nights. We arrived a day before the event and stayed one extra night to avoid the exit traffic.
The Fiesta runs from the first Saturday in October until Sunday a week later. That's 10 days of events scheduled. There are morning and afternoon sessions with tickets needed for each session. Some afternoons during the week there is no sessions.
We volunteer 40 hours each and get half price camping for the event. We are allowed to pick our own schedule (since we did it early) so this year we tried to not pick so many mornings. Getting up at 4AM is too early for retired life! Once you get out on the field though, it's so much fun that you forget how early it is.
It's the Balloon Fiesta's 50th Anniversary.
We were luck to get assigned to the North VIP RV lot again this year. There are approximately 330 RV's just in this one lot for the fiesta.
Some balloons were flying before the event so we got to see some fly right over our trailer and land on the field.
Once again we were volunteering at the VIP area called the Gondola Club. We needed to arrive at 4:30 AM for our morning shifts.
This year there was a drone show added to the entertainment. I liked this because it wasn't so weather dependent like the balloons are.
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New Mexico State Flag
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The big question in New Mexico, do you like your peppers red or green?
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The drone show was sponsored by the Sandia Casino
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Celebrating 50 years!
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Thanks to the guy that started it all, Sid Cutter.
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The weather was good on the first morning for the Dawn Patrol balloons to lift.
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The bright white lights are "Main Street" at the fiesta where they sell food and souvenirs.
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My view of the event from the Gondola Club. The first morning there was a flyover by the military.
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Balloon carrying the American Flag
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It was a beautiful morning and the balloons began inflating and flying.
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There is not a bad seat in the area! The Gondola Club has catered food and seating with tables, and maybe most important, it's own restrooms!
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The large inflated cone marks off one corner of the field.
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I tried not to take so many photos this year since we attended the event before but it's just so hard to stop! I think I did pretty good with not taking too many photos on day 1. Unfortunately it didn't last the rest of the week.
Here starts another morning session.
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I like the gold sash/ribbon on this balloon.
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This is the opposite end of the field near the wood cutters and closer to our RV. All of the pickup trucks on the field are balloon crews.
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A rainbow, which means there is rain in the area.
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One morning we arranged to meet up with a couple, John & Tina, who we met at Snow Canyon State Park when we were volunteering there in 2019. We came to learn that they are related to our friend, Bill. We follow each other on Facebook so knew we wereboth going to be at the event.
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The teddy bear is "kissing" the Humpty Dumpty balloon.
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The volunteers for the event are treated very well and the host committee throws several parties with food and prizes. At one party we met a family of balloonists and they told us where they are assigned on the field for inflating their balloon. One morning we found them and watched their process. We mostly talked to the daughter, Kristen. It is her father who is the pilot and the whole family is the crew.
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The balloon fits in that bag.
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The Mom making sure all the velcro is connected.
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Kristen and her husband holding open the envelope for filling.
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A look inside
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While Kristen and her family were setting up their balloon Kristen was teaching us so much about ballooning and what to look for on balloons to know this or that. It was very interesting and we enjoyed her "class."
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You can see the balloon is tethered to their van with the white rope. It takes more weight to keep the balloon grounded until it's time to lift.
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The Zebra talking to the pilot.
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Releasing the rope
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And up they go!
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Kristen's husband and son were flying with Kristen's Dad, the pilot.
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Red Hot way off in the distance.
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Next Al and I are waiting to enter one of the parties. The statue to Sid Cutter was decorated for the 50th anniversary.
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Sid Cutter, Founder 1972
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On Main Street there are places to take photos.
Late one morning session we found these "miniature" hot air balloons on our walk back to our RV for a much needed nap.
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Just look at the little basket and you can tell it is a miniature.
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Some mornings there is a beautiful sun rise but with so many clouds it is a wait and see if the balloons will inflate and lift up.
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It was a cloudy day but great because the balloons were able to fly!
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This guy was flying this thing around after all the balloons lifted and the field was mostly empty.
There are places to take photos on "Main Street". Here is one,
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The view from the bluff by the North RV Parking area. Excited to see the balloons inflating under the grey skies.
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This is the command center where the pilots get all of their information.
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On Thursday mornings, the Special Shape balloons get their day, which is my favorite. I purposely don't volunteer that morning so I can walk around and enjoy the balloons. We get free entry to the entire event for our volunteering.
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This dog is HUGE!
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| Awwww...... |
One of my favorites, (well two), are the bumble bees. We even got to see them "kiss" as there were inflated.
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A balloon of balloons!
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Cool Pig
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On the back of a chase vehicle
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We met up with Liz, who was our volunteer coordinator in 2019.
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Balloons flying past the Gondola Club where we volunteer.
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Competition balloons try to fly over the field to drop bean bags aiming for targets.
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If you look closely this pilot is trying to toss a bean bag on to a target on the field.
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This guy really had to toss his bean bag.
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What, there goes Red Hot again.
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Can't get much closer to the target than this!
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When we arrived at the event we signed up to volunteer to crew for a balloonist needing assistance. We were paired up with Bill and Susan with their Band of Gold balloon. We went out to the field and tried to find them while it was still dark.
Dawn patrol was just beginning.
Using the coordinates on the field we were able to find Bill and Susan's truck parked in their assigned quadrant.
Our pilot, Bill, was technically in the competition group so he inflates off site and tries to throw a bean bag on to the field. He doesn't compete anymore. We met on the field and jumped in his truck and drove to an off site area to inflate his balloon.
As you can see, it takes a lot of people to inflate and repack a balloon! As newbies, Al and I just tried to help where we could as we were learning the ropes. The equipment is heavy!
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That's Bill, the pilot, inside the basket.
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Laying out the tarp that the balloon lays on.
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Another balloon was inflating nearby.
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Testing the propane.
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Basket goes down on its side. Notice the yellow leash to tether the balloon to the truck on the left.
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Attaching the balloon to the basket
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Unloading the balloon
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Inflating the balloon with a giant fan.
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Making sure all of the velcro is attached correctly at the top of the balloon before it lifts off the ground.
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A view of the inside as it inflates.
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A little sponsorship money.
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On the way over to the off site location, Bill asked if I had ever flown before in a hot air balloon. I had but said that Al has not so Bill took Al up for a ride! How cool!
And there they go! I was taking video of the launch.
You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/iSJsU5FElCc (1:47)
Those of us remaining on the ground packed up the gear and jumped in the truck to chase them.
Bill didn't make it back to the fiesta field and landed in another
area. We caught up with them and began to retrieve and pack up the
gear.
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| Landed! |
Bill was able to maneuver the balloon over to the dirt road so we could fold it back up.
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Pushing out the air
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As you can imagine, everything needs to go back into the bags precisely and ready for the next flight.
No, they're not sitting around. They are using their butts to squish the balloon down into the bag.
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That's Bill waving
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Thankfully Bill has a motorized tailgate so the basket doesn't need to be lifted into the back of the truck. Pushing it is hard enough!
After all the equipment was loaded, we took a ride back to the fiesta field for a tailgate party.
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| Bill opening a bottle of champagne to celebrate Al's first flight! |
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Susan pinning Al.
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Bill, Al, and Susan
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Bill made a souvenir for Al using the champagne cork and wire.
Bill did a whole presentation and recited the Balloonist Prayer and then Al had to drink the champagne without spilling it or he had to buy breakfast for the crew.
That was totally unexpected for Al to get a ride in a hot air balloon. Thanks Bill and Susan!
Bill even invited us to a crew party one night. People are just so friendly!
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A nice sunset
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One night the weather was not good so the balloon pilots were only able to light their flames which they call "candle sticking."
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Funny, that flame looks like a witch flying on a broom to me. See it?
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The next day the weather was good enough for the balloons to fly.
We stayed one extra day to avoid the traffic of the crowds leaving the area. Lucky for us some balloons continued the party and we got a nice view from our RV!
We had a great time at the event and met some nice people. I think we'll be back next year.
Next we're off to Austin for the Formula 1 race.
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