So we set the alarm for 5:29am (Roxie asked why 5:29 also).  Well I didn’t like setting it for 5:30.  The ‘Dawn Patrol’ was to launch at 5:45.  The Dawn Patrol is a group of 12 balloons that inflate and launch right before dawn.  It is fun to see them light up with the burners:

The picture is a bit blurry but then again so was I!  I am not used to getting up that early, wow!  We watched these 12 take off, head down to the south of the field, ascend, then travel to the north of the field.  This is the wind condition called the Albuquerque Box.  It is one of the things that makes this area so appealing to balloonists.  After the Dawn Patrol it was time for the ‘Mass Ascension”.  You really don’t know what they mean when they say ‘Mass’ unless you are here.  I heard that over 500 balloonists registered for this.  It could have very easily been that many.  Here is a shot of some:

One nice thing about the Fiesta is you can walk around the grounds and around the balloons as they are being laid out, filled with air, heated and then takeoff.  You can walk right up next to the basket and take a shot inside:

The best part was standing right next to the baskets when the burners were lit.  They were nice and warm and I was COLD!  It seemed to get colder right as dawn was breaking.  Having a breakfast burrito with New Mexico chiles did not help that much.  So you would stand there and watch about 20 balloons lifting off in sequence, then look down the field and see another 30 being filled, then look the other way and see another 40 being laid out.  It was very impressive.  It was difficult to keep track of all of it, very sensory overwhelming.  In the sky all the balloons were all over, different locations, altitudes and directions.  Here is a later view of just a part of the sky:

How many do you count?  I got 100-110, different numbers each time.  It shows you part of the immensity of it all.  I will post all the photos to my Flickr account under a Balloon Fiesta set when we get back.  I will also have the above photo in a panorama picture.  All the balloons are not the same shape, the favorite appeared to be this one:

It took a long time to inflate, but when it went up it went to cheers from the crowd.  It was pretty big and it took off very rapidly.  Another favorite were these two:

Now it looks like these two are holding hands and they are.  However is no attachment point between the two balloons.  The pilots maintained this connection from lift off until I wasn’t watching them any more.  I was told these balloonists can also, under the right conditions, rotate them so they can ‘kiss’.  The vast majority of the balloons are very colorful, alas it was pretty cloudy so the sun didn’t bring out the colors as it should but I tried to take any ‘artsy’ shot of a balloon while being inflated.

We headed back to the trailer after all of the balloons were launched (about 9am) got inside to get warmed up and promptly slept for almost 4 hours.  See, told you about the unfamiliarity with waking up early.  We got up, did a quick bit of grocery shopping for the evening potluck and came back.  Yes, there are Airstreams here also.  We are in 3 rows, we are in Row 2

(That’s us with the blue awning)

We had the evening potluck with the usual plethora of food.  It is funny how there is rarely any duplications at these.  We sat around, ate, visiting and wondered when the helium balloons were going to lift off.  They had been filling these balloons all afternoon for a race that they have.  They see who can go the farthest in a certain amount of time.  They were supposed to take off around 6pm but they were still there when Roxie and I went back to the field around 6:30.  They were scheduled to have some balloons be inflated and then light themselves up with their burners.  Kind of like the Dawn Patrol but they would not take off.  The night would then culminate with fireworks.  Well the helium balloons were on hold and the other balloons were canceled due to gusty winds.  Even the fireworks were odd.  There were a couple of large gaps, the first one so long that we almost got back to our trailer before they started setting them off again.  The helium balloons will go off whenever the winds die down even if that is 3am (we won’t see it).

All in all it was a very fun but oddly scheduled day.  The same may happen tomorrow but we won’t get up that early.  Maybe 6:13?

We left Grants a bit behind the other 18 trailers but we managed to catch up.  It was very nice to have a short day, about 80 miles.  We arrived in Camping World and found a place to park.  There a lot of Airstreams there (should have been 46).  We shopped, milled around, ate lunch, looked at the other trailers, mingled, etc.  Then it came time to move out.  The plan was two groups of 20+.  Both groups about 20 minutes apart.  We were initially told we were in the second group so we took it easy.  Then they started saying they needed more for the first group and whoever wanted to go should.  We fired up the trucks and joined the fun.  We left the parking lot and lined up out on the frontage road.

It took about 15 minutes to get to the next overpass so we could get on I40 E.  As we passed the Camping World, we could see the other group leaving.  It was good until we got more into Albuquerque.  Then the local traffic started to infiltrate us.  Plus we had to change lanes a few times.  We transitioned to I25 N and went about 5 miles before we turned off.  Another 2 miles to the compound.  The parking people (a very powerful group) directed the trailers where to go.  We lucked out with our spot.  There is no one else in front of us and we actually can see the grass field from our trailer.  It is about a 1/4 mile walk to the grounds.  Have to get to sleep early tonight since the festivities start at 5:45AM (that is 4:45AM your and our time).

I will have some more photos tomorrow.