We arrived in NM on Oct 5th and spent 2 nights in Santa Fe. Since we had seen the city in the past, we decided to visit Los Alamos where the "Bomb" was developed. The drive was about 35 miles outside of Santa Fe, up twisty, windy roads. It made sense to us after we made the trip how this whole project was kept secret in such a remote area! The Bradbury Science museum gave us a good insight into the history of the project and also some of the work that is going on today. The Los Alamos National Lab is huge and spreads out in separate buildings over many miles.
One of the highlights of our journey so far was the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta! We had always wanted to see this and it was spectacular!!!! Our good friends, Les and Joanne met us there, and we were able to share in all the fun! We camped right on the balloon fiesta grounds and were able to walk over in the a.m. and p.m. for the scheduled events. It was convenient, but we had no hook-ups for electricity or water. By the end of 4 days, we were running out of fresh H2O. No showers! Luckily we were all in the same boat!
The balloons only took off in the a.m., unless the weather was too bad. All the public, and there were lots of them, were allowed to walk among the balloons as they were inflating and taking off, which made it even more fun! The first 2 mornings there were special shape balloons that flew. There was everything you could imagine, including a stagecoach, Noah's Ark, a huge cow complete with big udder, a Halloween haunted house, a spaceship, and Darth Vader's head! Saturday a.m. there was a mass ascension and 550 balloons participated! Our pictures don't really do these events justice! After the am ascensions, there were some balloon competitions, where the balloonists would try and hit targets by dropping markers and also try and grab $ attached to high poles.
In the evening, they had what they called "Glodeos" or "Moonglos" where the balloons were tethered and lit in unison with propane blasts when it was dusk. Very beautiful to see! Unfortunately, the event was cancelled one evening due to high winds. Fireworks followed each night. The four days there were a wonderful experience!!!!!!!!
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