It was on Jamie’s Dad’s bucket list to attend the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico but we didn’t find that out until he called and randomly asked us to join him. Having nothing on the calendar we decided to book the trip.
Thousands of people converge on the fairly recently made popular Breaking Bad town of Albuquerque as hundreds of hot air balloons line up on an incredibly large grassy field in the dark hours of the morning, just before sunrise. It was a very early in the morning and we shuffled out of the hotel room and into an Uber that would eventually get us as close to the venue, which proved difficult to get to with all of the traffic. That additional time gave Dad, brother Christian, and Jamie a chance to catch up on some family matters. We’ll get back to the hot air balloons in a second but it was on this particular Uber ride so very early in the morning that Dad announced to Jamie that his pride and joy, a 1999 Porsche 911 which he has been driving since new was to become hers as soon as we were able to get to Atlanta to collect it. Jamie and I couldn’t believe it! She had for years bugged Dad to let her eventually have it but had no idea that time would ever come. Barely awake to figure out how to receive the news we were able to muster up enough excitement to get our wheels turning so we can start planning that trip!
When we finally made it to the venue it was still pretty dark, and the crowds were slowly making their way onto the field where several hot air balloons were already being staged for a post sunrise take off. We ultimately found our spot and dug out the mirrorless Nikons in preparation for the grand event. The early morning breeze delayed take off for many, but eventually hundreds of colorful and fun hot air balloons took to the sky.
The event lasted a few hours and when we had our fill it was time to find our ride back to the hotel. Then after some breakfast we went into town to explore and check out some sights. We skipped Walter White’s house out of respect for the homeowner but cruised parts of historic Route 66 and walked around Old Town which was lined with souvenir shops and art galleries.
