Trailer Village RV Park - Roswell, NM

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Albuquerque, NM 56 degrees partly cloudy. Over night there was a rain and wind blowing and more "weather" this afternoon and thru Friday. Forty years Albuquerque has been doing a balloon fiesta.

40 years of ballooning for Albuquerque

We were wake early today and the school bus (paid for as part of our camping fee) took us over to the launch (80 acres) field by six-thirty today. The  first balloon is selected and carries the flag with the Star Spangled Banner playing over the public address system. You can notice the cloudy sky in these pictures.

First balloon of the daylight carries the flag

The first inflation is with a high volume fan  

Trailer Village RV Park - Roswell, NM 78 degrees partly cloudy to rain (maybe even measurable) after dark. Buster took the trip to the "bathroom" Conoco gasoline station and dumped the waist holding tanks "that’s better" lightening the load for the trip. Going east on I 40 Buster then stopped at T/A in Moriarty, NM for a drink of diesel fuel $3.679. Price per gallon is coming down. Roswell has diesel in the  $ 3.379 range, great for Buster.

The total trip today was two hundred and sixteen miles to Roswell. There was some rain on the windshield while traveling south on US 285. The rain was enough to use the wipers for a while. Once the inflation on the ground is complete the propane burner is used to finish filling  and stand the balloon up.

This was a long day of tourist and traveling (no pictures) as a normal day for us is about two hundred miles. The pictures Friday thru Monday were taken with two cameras.

Saturday thru Monday there were at least one hundred pictures on each camera. Monday my camera maxed out at one hundred thirty four pictures, no memory remaining.

Special shape

You can the RV's are parked close together and balloons are trying to come in