EARTH, WIND AND FLYERS…PART 5

Wednesday, October 6 – This morning was “Flight of the Nations Mass Ascension”. The balloonists from other countries hung their nation's flag from the balloon. It was neat seeing all the different flags. Of course, their were many USA balloonists too!

Did you know that the average balloon is 90,000 cubic feet, which refers to the volume of the inflated envelope.

The crowds are back! Monday and Tuesday were a little light on attendance but the people are back in town today. This weekend should be really crowded.

Marsha is busy identifying each balloon by their name. She hopes to find most of their names and put them in one database and then publish it on our blog. Stay tuned for the “Name That Balloon” blog.

Kachina...pretty neat one.

Flaming Wonder

Levity

It was amazing how many special shape balloons went up this morning.

Pencil Boy is pretty neat. Look at his glasses…what do you see?

It looks like reflections of other balloons…cool!

One of our favorite…Haunted House.

Polly and Tom

If you would like to see more super pictures of the Mass Ascension, click here for group pictures and here for individual balloons.

This afternoon we went to the Albuquerque Zoo for a volunteer's Luncheon.

They served lunch of hamburgers & hotdogs and had adult beverages.

Pink Flamingoes

Cranes

That is all the zoo pictures. Paul says…If you seen one elephant, you’ve seen them all. Not sure Marsha agrees.

After the celebration, we returned to the RV Park for more celebrating. Betty & Jay Crane are leaving tomorrow so we had a little bon voyage' party.

Betty, Jay and Dakota

Donna, Norma and Twinkle Toes

Les and Winnie

Thursday, October 7 – This morning was the Special Shapes Ascension. WOW was it fantastic! There are 94 special shapes this year, and I think Marsha has a picture of just about every one! There are 18 new shapes making their appearance this year. This truly is an amazing sight!

While most conventional hot-air balloons average about $40,000 in price, the special shapes balloons are more likely to be in the $80,000 to $100,000 range.

Chic-I-Boom

Saquaro-Grande

Uncle Sam

Arky

Purple People Eater

To see lots more special shapes, click here.

There were regular balloons that also went up this morning.

Swirls-in-the-sky

Gloria-Caeli

 

After all the balloons launched, it was time for the Flying Competition and Prize Grab. In this competition, the balloonists try to fly near enough to a high pole in order to grab a prize. There are keys to a new Ford Truck, $700 in cash, and many other prizes. It's amazing to see these pilots maneuver within a mere foot of the poles having launched from at least one mile away.

We then visited several of the tents on the mid-way. There are all types of souvenir tents, artists selling their wares, discovery world, informative areas, and of course food tents. The rent for these tent spaces is several thousand dollars.....guess that explains why coffee is $2 and up! We bought a metal-shaped balloon for the motor home.

Tonight was the Special Shape Glowdeo followed by AfterGlow Fireworks.

SIDE NOTE: The weather has been FANTASTIC. It's been said – the best ever for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It gets in the 80's during the day and about 60 degrees at night. Of course, the humidity is very low, this being high desert. So far, only one event has had to be canceled, out of the thirty scheduled events to date.....Yippie!

Should have kept my mouth shut......the Glowdeo was canceled tonight because of excessive wind. It really wasn't very windy....just too much for the big special-shaped balloons.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back real soon. Have a great day!