Flight of the Nations - Balloon Fiesta

Cassie and Jack's neighbor back in Maryland, Laura is visiting with friends in Albuquerque and took the opportunity to stop by and visit with us for a while.  We had a nice visit with here and when she found out she could get some free money to gamble with at the Sandia Casino, she bid us all a fond farewell.

Judy and Herb arrived yesterday and went out to dinner with them and then the girls wanted to go to Michaels Crafts for some much needed supplies.  We plugged in the address in the GPS and headed out to find the place.  One wrong turn and then back on track and Michaels was quickly found.

We tried to catch the nightly balloon glow, but either they didn't have it or we were too late to see it.  We then returned to the motor home and made plans to attend the morning event.

We got up at 4:30AM to get ready to drive down to the fiesta park  and since the traffic was so light, we made it to the field in record time.  I parked about 100 ft from the entrance and were inside the gate quickly.  Now it was time to wait for the Dawn Patrol to take off and by the time we got there some were firing up.  There were a total of 11 balloons in the Dawn Patrol and they must have signaled back that all was well and then the others began to fire up their balloons.

Today was the Flight Of the Nations with pilot from each country flying out with their nations flag attached to the balloon.  Costa Rica was even represented with a nice balloon.  We took almost 200 shots and I tried to narrow them down to a manageable number and size.  I used Picasa to downsize the photos and added a watermark to my photos. 

Blowing up the balloon

Lady pilot for Sushi

First shot of balloon in sun.

Darth Vader on patrol

What's up Doc?

Humpty Dumpty back together

One eyed cat watching you.

Ooops!

They say timing is everything and the guy above holding onto the balloon rope wasn't in the right place at the right time.  The horse patrol had passed the area a couple minutes before he struck this pose.  He was a real character along with his mother and father and were fun loving people.

We stopped by the Village Inn and had breakfast after the morning at the field and had a great meal.  Wednesday is free pie day and we all had a piece of our favorite pie.  I had my usual cherry pie and it was as good as ever.

Then it was on to Old Town Albuquerque for the girls to check out some shops.  Herb and I sat in the car and waited patiently for them to complete their shopping trip.  They came back with some must have bargains and didn't want to leave the area, but there was something in their future that lured them out of there.

Hard Rock casino south of Albuquerque on the Isleta Indian reservation was our next destination.  It's a very nice casino and hotel complex and was very busy.  We received $30 each in complimentary money to gamble by joining their players club.  After all was said and done, Gerry and I walked out of there $94 ahead and never had to play a dollar of ours.  You win some and lose some, today was a winner.  Judy and Herb also won and came out winners.

We had a nice dinner in the casino and then drove back to the motor home in a round about way.  We drove down to Central Ave (Rt 66) and headed east and viewed the old hotels and business place along the road that have been restored or torn down.  We must have driven 7-8 miles and then caught Tramway Blvd to come across the eastern part of the city.  It was a pleasant drive and gave Judy & Herb a chance to see some more of the city.  

We stopped at the Santa Anna casino on the way home and deposited a few dollars and then returned to the motor home.  We all are tired and worn out.  I think this will be an early evening for all of us.

I hope!