Balloon Trip: Day 6

We left Gallup at our usual time and drove almost all the way to Albuquerque in the rain and wind. Not much fun. Our rigs are in a huge field which holds 1,800 RV’s. The guys were trying to estimate the total value of all of them. The balloon festival is an experience everyone should see. We got up at 5:45 the next morning and were on a bus by 6:30, headed across the road to the field where they launch the balloons. Hundreds of balloons go up in all different shapes. I have included a few of our favorites. In the evening they have the “glow” which is where they blow the balloons up again, but don’t launch them. Instead, as it is getting dark, they keep lighting them up. After that they have a fireworks display. The next morning was just regular balloons being launched. We decided to stay at our site and the balloons flew overhead. That afternoon one couple from our group, the Lara’s, had brought along casseroles in their freezer. We all got together and "potlucked" the rest of the meal. Again we watched the fireworks in the evening. These were even better than the night before. Today was our day to depart so we stayed at the site and watched the mass ascension. This time they also had some of the shape balloons taking off. With regret that the festival was over, we left around 9:30 and are now back in Gallup. Our plans were to go to Carlsbad Caverns, El Paso, Tucson, Yuma, Needles, Bakersfield and home. We heard yesterday that the Grand Canyon was open and Carlsbad Caverns were still closed, so we headed back the same route we took getting to Albuquerque. We’re spending four days in Williams (where we'll take a train to the Grand Canyon), two in Needles , one in Bakersfield and then home on Monday.