Balloons, birds, and a new shed -- Mom and Dad O visit Abq

In Abq we don't celebrate Columbus Day, but we get a Thursday and Friday off for "Fall Break" during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  When I first moved here in the fall of 2012 Stephen and I went to the Balloon Fiesta, but since then I have traveled to NY for fall break to visit family and friends and to catch a glimpse of peak foliage.  This year the O's came to visit us instead!

Our first foray to see balloons was on Friday night of the second weekend of the Fiesta.  I had seen my friends' fb posts from the first weekend complaining about the lines and the wait, so I asked a few local people what would be the best, most efficient approach to get to the park.  We decided to go to the evening glow with special shapes, and to take the shuttle bus from the mall near my church.  I found the correct parking lot with no problem and we immediately saw where to get in line.  Dad was wearing his Navy hat from Key West, and before we even got into line he was talking with another Navy vet -- one of the Balloon Fiesta workers -- and then another Navy guy saw us and said, "Sir, you look like you're limping.  Get right on this bus here," and whisked us onto the handicapped bus that was immediately behind us.  As soon as we boarded, the bus took off.  That hat sure paid off!

The bus dropped us off quite close to the middle of the park, and we found an empty picnic table where Dad could sit while Mom and I explored.  It was quite crowded and we took a long time, but Dad had no trouble finding many friendly people who sat and chatted with him while we were gone.  We went over to check out the band playing in the bandstand and it turned out that I knew the drummer.  We also saw some Native dancers and drummers.

We returned to Dad's picnic table with Indian tacos for the folks and falafel for me, and it started to rain!  It rained on my falafel.  How awful.  But, since it's Albuquerque, the rain shower soon passed and we dried out almost immediately.  I wasn't even cold!

Mom and I did some more exploring and went on a quest to find a 2017 pin for Mom's cousin Marge.  It rained again while we were searching and we were worried they wouldn't have the glow.  But it soon stopped and the green flag flew, giving the go signal to the balloonists.  While we were waiting we were amply entertained by the sight of the Sandias turning the watermelon color that gave them their name and by a spectacular sunset.

And...  the balloons started to inflate...

 The balloons stay tethered during the evening glow.  They inflate them and the burners light them up in the semi-darkness. 

We walked down one row, not even all the way to the end, and the sight was incredible!  The place is HUGE and the balloons are everywhere!  The park was packed with people so it was very slow going, but everyone was very nice and polite.  We turned before Dad's knees gave out and before we got back to our starting spot the call had come for the balloons to deflate due to the rising wind.  Fortunately, we had seen a lot.  We found out the next day that a balloon escaped, but we missed that excitement.

The walk to the shuttle bus pick-up was long, but everything was clearly marked and very efficiently run.  There were lots of safety workers and police and volunteers to guide us.  It is probably the most efficiently run... well... anything! that I have experienced here in the land of manana.  The fiesta uses school buses from APS and Rio Rancho as shuttle buses, which may explain the days off.  The bus drivers, like everyone else we encountered, were very professional and friendly.

The next morning we got up early and drove to a location in the Northwest where we could park on the side of the road and watch the mass ascension without actually going to Balloon Park.  There were a few dozen people there by the time balloons started to go up.  The folks next to us had tried to get into the park but the parking lot was full by 5:30 AM.  We could see the traffic jam on I-25 from where we sat.

 Things got off to a slow start, but once the balloons started to launch they just kept coming and coming and coming!  We ended up staying for a couple of hours!

Once the sun found our spot it was plenty warm enough, and the whole thing was delightful.

Besides watching balloons, we built a new shed while the folks were here!

 The old shed was a rickety, rusty, small metal thing.  For quite a while we had been worried it was going to end up in the open space during every wind storm.  While we were working, we had an unexpected and very unwelcome visitor:

For a minute there, I thought we were building an Old West Saloon.  But it all worked out.

I still have to paint it to match the house.  We had fun doing a project together, and it was a lovely and generous gift from my folks!
Oh!  The birds!  I did say balloons, birds and a shed.  Well, we had some amazing bird watching but since I neglected to take any pictures, I'll just say, "spotted towhee, curve billed thrasher, stellar jay, Western scrub jay, pinyon jay, northern flicker, dark-eyed junco, sage sparrow, goldfinch, white winged dove, and robin."