Balloon Fiesta (Albuquerque, NM)

Wednesday, Oct. 5 we arrived in Albuquerque for 5 nights of camping at the annual Balloon Fiesta.  The camping for the Fiesta was the rally layout. That means no hookups, lined up in a parking lot and $30 a night. But it was good to practice our dry camping "skills." I'll provide little narrative and let you view the pictures. The weather Thursday morning was questionable resulting in the balloons not flying but they did inflate for a static display of "special shapes". 

 

It was particularly interesting watching the balloons be inflated and then up righted.

But by that afternoon a rainy cold front had arrived and most of the Fiesta activities were cancelled until Saturday morning. But throughout Saturday and Sunday morning we saw lots of balloon events. Watching the balloons fly against the backdrop of the Sandia mountains was awesome.

The balloons where all over the place, even flying over the campground.

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That's our camper!

Some even landed in the cemetery just behind where we were parked.

Nope, no one actually landed on the campers!

We did have one memorable dining out experience during our Albuquerque stay.  We had read about the huge chicken fried steak portions at Murphy's Mule Barn and wanted to check it out for ourselves.  They weren't kidding!  I ended up eating my entire portion at the restaurant.  Debbie barely made a dent in hers, but I was glad to later finish up her portion back at the camper.  Grossly decadent.

Sunday afternoon we drove another scenic highway this time to Santa Fe, NM. 

 We took the dogs. They were SOOOO pleased.

It was a nice drive and Santa Fe is a very artsy community with lots of activity and green space around its main "square".

We stopped at another church and walked around town. 

 There are endless shops and galleries but fortunately we're not shoppers and we don't need ANYTHING. So we simply strolled. 

 

On the return trip we drove to the top of the Sandia Peak just east of Albuquerque at an elevation of 10,678 feet. That's about a mile higher then Albuquerque. The drive was reasonable and there was snow and gorgeous views at the top. 

The dogs had what may of been their first taste of real snow. We're such proud parents! 

Yesterday (Oct. 10) we arrived in the very small town of San Antonio, NM.  We are here to mostly visit the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge.  We'll be in this area for one week.  Lots of bird pictures in upcoming blogs is my prediction.

That's a wrap for now.

Ciao