Day 14 – Balloon Fiesta – Special Shape Rodeo

Once again, we are up at 4:30 am to reach the shuttle to the Balloon Launch site.  We are again in time for the dawn patrol, but for some reason today it seems darker. 

While we were waiting for the special shape balloons to take the field, we walked around a little.  Here Carmen and I found NASA cut-outs and decided to take a picture with them.

Some of the handlers of the Darth Vader balloon.  Where’s my light saber?

I love this picture; not sure if I should be scared or happy he posed for me.

First some of the regular balloons will go up since the special shapes will not begin the process until the operators can see clearly.  Six balloons all lined up in a row waiting to finish the inflation process.

I love all of the colors in the balloons.  Standing next to the flame, heating the air in the envelope, felt nice on this cold morning.

When dawn comes, the special shapes start inflating.  We see the woodpecker balloon along with the Arc balloon in the background.

More and more of the special shaped balloons start to inflate.  There are so many special shapes; you cannot possibly see them all. This two-faced clown shows both happy and sad faces.

Other balloons are inflating and the field is beginning to fill up.  The Panda Bear balloon is right in the middle of the action.

Balloons are now up in the air along with some of the special shapes.  You can see Humpty Dumpty is in the air and you can see the tail of a cow on the left.  And the Woodpecker still has not gone up yet.

Ah, so sad, he is being left behind. 

There are many balloons still on the ground, but looking up I can see about 25 or so already in the air.

Looks like the woodpecker balloon has not gone up yet and I wonder if it will go up at all, but now it has company.  There are many other balloons in different stages of inflation process.

Like I said there are so many special shapes and patterned balloons; you cannot possibly see them all.  The fish is peaking out from behind the other balloons.  They are in front of you, behind you, launching from behind other balloons, you get dizzy just turning around.  Look at the people in the bottom of the picture, I feel like I’m missing out on something behind me.

Look at these balloons, it is almost like they set the ocean themes together on the right side; crab, shark behind him, then the octopus’ garden.

I’m trying to take pictures that will encompass more than one balloon.  The flower is blooming right in front of the Wells Fargo stage coach.

Finally, the woodpecker is in the air along with the ice cream cone, zebra, and car.

The flower is fully inflated; maybe bees will show up later.

We have a Fire engine up in the air.  I never saw the fire engine balloon being inflated.  The Zebra is there also and not for the first time.

This is only a part of the sky that we can see.  There are beginning to be more special shape balloons than regular ones in the sky.

In this location on the field we can see a bee, frog, pumpkin, and I don’t know what the one on the left is yet.

Look at all of the balloons on the ground here, including the 3-monkey balloon in the front – it is speak no evil, see no evil, and hear no evil.  The black balloon with the barbed wire is a POW-MIA balloon.

Spider Pig is on its way.  In case you do not know, spider pig is from the Simpsons show. 

I see that the dragon and ice cream envelopes have returned again.  Many of the balloons circulate back around returning to the field again.

Well, the butterfly finally lifted off.  It has been inflated for quite some time.  Beautiful colors on this balloon.

A Clown and a Fire-plug; wait that sounds like the start of a joke!

Many more balloons are inflating, but don’t seem to be lifting off.  It is later in the morning and I figure they do not want to bother.  In this view, you can see the Bumble Bees, Felix the Cat, POW/MIA balloon, and the tourist Penguin.

Take cover, Angry Birds are coming in.  It is peaking from behind the Carousel balloon.  I never saw the Angry Bird when it was on the ground in the process of being inflated.

Elvis is back on the field.  So is the Earth, Ladybug, Octopus, and Shark balloons all filled, but will they fly?

Now that most of the specialty balloons have left the field, some of the regular balloons are involved in a targeting game.  You can just make out a streamer that was thrown from the American Flag basket.  It is heading to a circle target on the ground.  Points are awarded for getting in the circle and for decreasing points depending on the distance from the circle.

Other people in balloons are trying to place a ring on the white poles in the field.  Again points are awarded to those that place the ring on the white pole.

This is just fantastic and we recommend it to anyone thinking about coming out here to see the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.  We came to two ascension days, one for regular balloons and another for the special shapes.  If you have ever thought about going to the Balloon Festival, do it, you will not regret it.

Tomorrow we are leaving Albuquerque and heading to Alamogordo and White Sands National Park.