Put a thousand giant, brightly colored hot air balloons in the same place on a perfect October morning, have them rise all at once into New Mexico's impossibly blue sky, and you have one of the man-made wonders of the world. This is why, at some point in your life, you have to get to Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta.
The annual nine-day event has come a long way since the first Fiesta in 1972, when a guy named Sid Cutter helped organize a balloon festival to celebrate local radio station KOB-AM's 50 years on the air. About a dozen balloons showed up and were launched from a shopping mall parking lot in town. The next year 138 balloons were entered, representing 13 countries, and in 1978, Albuquerque played host to the world's largest ballooning event with 273 participants. At this year's Fiesta, which runs October 7 to 15, organizers expect an even thousand.
Here's what to do if you join the party: The first morning you're there, show up before 5:30 a.m. If the weather is right, and it usually is, a half-dozen balloons will ascend in the dark at 5:45. The balloons' propane burners light up the envelopes, and the pilots are in contact with each other, so they glow all at once, blinking slowly like synchronized, groggy fireflies.
Then wander out among the still-awakening balloons, laid out flat on giant tarps. When the propane starts pumping into hundreds of them at once, the sound is deafening—an additional thrill for kids. Their baskets, made of wicker or aluminum, drag along the ground until the hot air takes over and they join a sky littered with balloons of every possible color and shape—Humpty Dumpty, a string of chili peppers, shoes, a can of Pepsi, even Jesus Christ.
In the afternoon, take to the sky: Arrange your own balloon ascent through Rainbow Ryders or enjoy a ride on the world's longest tramway, which soars to the top of Sandia Ridge. The ridge offers a dizzying geological explanation of why the Fiesta is the world's largest. The Rio Grande Valley and the surrounding Sandia Mountains create a unique wind pattern known as the Albuquerque Box. The mountains both protect balloon ascents from overzealous winds and cause breezes to simultaneously blow in different directions at various altitudes, enabling pilots to "steer" their balloons by rising or descending. Some skilled pilots can even maneuver right back to where they started—a feat that almost makes the contraptions look like practical transportation.
Tags: Albuquerque Balloon Festival Santa Fe New Mexico
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Tags: Balloon Festival Albuquerque Sandia
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I loved the art installation of large prisms at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The light is wonderful that is reflected at various times of the day.
I was here for the Southwest Disability Conference. The Convention Center is very accessible. The only concern is if an elevator stops working which didn't while I was there but was a concern.
Tags: Prisms Albuquerque New Mexico Convention Center
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I've attempted to take photos of this Cathedral twice whenever I'm in Santa Fe. Once at Christmas when it was under major renovation today when I was there for just a couple of hours....there was a wedding. Stubborn as I am, I waited, put more money in the parking meter and finally got to go in. However, this statue outside is lovely....the sunlight rays really caputure the day....warm and cool.
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, commonly known as Saint Francis Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
The cathedral was built by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1869 and 1886 on the site of an older adobe church, La Parroquia (built in 1714-1717). An even earlier church on the same site, built in 1626, had been destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. The new cathedral was built around La Parroquia, which was dismantled once construction was complete. A small chapel on the north side of the cathedral is all that remains of the old church.
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Tags: Balloon Festival Albuquerque Sandia
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