On the final Saturday of the Balloon Fiesta, I got up at the ungodly hour of 3a to make strong coffee, stare groggily into the mirror for ten minutes before realizing I was, in fact, awake, and throw on layer after layer of warm clothes in order to go out into the cold, wet pre-dawn and drive an hour to Albuquerque. Our trailer-neighbor and co-worker came with me, and we sped along I-40 at top speed with no one else on the road, drinking jet fuel, and discussing the best way to get to the Balloon Fiesta Park.
I thought Coors, he thought I-25; we took Coors and arrived 20 minutes early. Huzzah!
Unfortunately for us, arriving 20 minutes early turned out to be less a blessing and more a curse – because of the freezing, chilly rain that Albuquerque had been experiencing, they cancelled the Dawn Patrol and waited for what felt like hours – and actually was – to start the Mass Ascension.
While we waited, we ate breakfast burritos and walked around ogling merchandise, the Watermelon Mountains in all their snowy, cloud-wreathed glory, and other fiesta-goers, getting our shoes (and socks) wet and generally shivering our timbers.
But, in the end, balloons ascended massively until some unknown, windy weather issues grounded the remaining balloons – especially the Special Shapes – and we had a good time.
Just before we left, some Navy Seals decided to jump out of planes and parachute down to us, throwing smoke whirls around in the blue, blue sky. The End.
Be well. – SAWK