Up, Up, and Away….

Thursday morning Rog and I were up bright and early to make our 5:30 AM check-in time for our balloon ride with Rainbow Ryders. We got to the tent and were surprised to find no lines. Ah, we must be early. We bounced up to the reservation desk, eager to start on our adventure. “Sorry, all flights have been cancelled today.” Whhaaaaat!!! But it’s my birthday!! Apparently, that did not impress the wind gods nor the gal at the check-in counter.

We asked about a wait list, there isn’t one. But you can show up at 4:45am and get on a stand-by list. Ugh! We made reservations for a Saturday sunset flight, but those leave from off-site and aren’t part of the Fiesta. If we’re doing this, I really wanted to be part of a mass ascension.

Friday morning, we arrived at 4:45am to find there were already at least 30 people on the stand-by list ahead of us. How did that happen?! Evidently they let some buses in early. Dang. We waited around to see if we got lucky, but no love. There were only about 8-10 stand-by slots to fill.

Determined to get a better shot at it, I was up at 3:45am on Saturday morning. Without coffee! The gates aren’t supposed to open until 4:30am, but I sweet talked my way through (read that whined like a baby) a little after 4am and still wasn’t first in line! But we were the third group of two (slots 5 and 6), so our odds were dramatically improved. I went back to the coach for coffee and we returned at 5:45am to see if we got lucky. WE DID!! 

After waiving all rights to our continued existence, we were assigned a balloon and pilot. We joined the queue and waited. Soon we were trailing our crew leader like little ducklings onto the launch field.

We were assigned to a Sundance Balloon piloted by Luka Drganc from Ontario, Canada. Rainbow Ryders is the only vendor at the Fiesta authorized to sell balloon rides to the public, but they also contract with other companies to help fill the demand. Luka was fun, informative and a great pilot. Our first task was to lend a hand inflating the balloon. Rog volunteered and held the ropes as the crew started the cold inflation. First they use big gas-powered fans to inflate the envelope.

Fans blow air into the envelope. 

To give you some perspective on the size, that's our pilot INSIDE the balloon. 

Once it is mostly filled with air, they turn on the propane burners to heat it up! The sound and heat of the burners is awesome. Our balloon was one of the largest at the Fiesta, it had three burners and a basket that held 12 passengers plus the pilot. It didn’t take long for the balloon to rise and we climbed into the basket (the gondola, to be accurate). I gotta admit, this is when I got a little nervous. Our friends Bob and Carole had arrived to see us off, so I quickly told Bob if anything happened where to find the spare rig key and to take care of the dog. Lol. Ok, bases covered – we’re off! 

Fire in the morning.

Happy Balloonists!
(Ok, I may be slightly nervous too.)

Thank you Bob & Carole.
In charge of the rig and Riley if things don't go well. Lol.

The great thing about mass ascension is you are going up with hundreds of other balloons. The not-so-great thing, the launch field is crowded and Luka took us straight up and fast! The tether line jerked the whole basket before he could unhook us. It was my only squeal. After we cleared the other balloons it was smooth sailing. Absolutely beautiful.

We're up...

...and it's beautiful!

It was amazing to get a birds-eye view of the launch field, to see other balloons above and below us. The flight is quiet and smooth, you barely have any feeling of motion. We went up to 2,600 feet, going first south and then northwest. Sometimes we were just slowly drifting and at other times we traveled at up to 17mph. We watched the sunrise and it was a beautiful sight as it illuminated the balloons. 

A bird's-eye view of the launch field.
How cool is that! 

The launch field and Fiesta grounds.

First light on the balloons with Albuquerque in the background.

Dip and Dash!

Going overboard (NOT)!

Rog and Luka, our pilot.

Looking up into the balloon.

So peaceful and lovely.

Check out the cool maze.

Our ride lasted about an hour and we soon saw other balloons picking their landing spots. There are several open fields west of the Fiesta grounds and that’s where we headed. We watched one balloon land in the middle of a residential street and Luka decided that’s where he was going too. He gave us landing instructions: Face away from the landing spot, bend your knees, grasp the rope handles in the basket. Be prepared for three bumps and don’t be alarmed if the basket tips over. He nailed it too. We touched down, bounced up, hit again, skidded, and then came to rest. The momentum slowly tipped the basket over and we were down!

Other balloons landed way out in the fields.

Luka decided this was a better option...

...and he nailed it!
We're down!

The chase crew couldn't ask for an easier spot! Lol.

The chase crew was only a few minutes away. Luka was pretty proud of himself and the chase crew offered to buy him breakfast. Lol. Landing on the road made it super easy to deflate and pack up the balloon. We saw others way out in the middle of the fields and one poor guy that landed in a deep arroyo. No idea how they were going to get the balloon up the steep sides. Just the envelope of our balloon weighed 500 pounds!

Luka instructs us on making a balloon burrito.

Job well done!

We helped pack up the balloon and then had our champagne toast. We learned that the tradition dates back to the 1700’s in France. When the first balloonists landed in some poor farmers field they were met with hostility and pitchforks. What flame breathing dragon is this?! To prove they were French and friendly, the pilots brought champagne and wine for the farmers. Luckily, we had no angry farmers to deal with, so we had the champagne all to ourselves. Lol.

Cheers!

I really wanted to wrap up the Balloon Fiesta posts, but I have too many pictures that I still want to share. I promise just one more post after this to wrap up our stay!