42nd Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta — Part 1

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

I’m going to delay until next week Parts 1 and 2 on my photo series on the Three Rivers Petroglyphs.  Instead, all this week I’m going to bring you a colorful four-part series on this year’s 42nd Annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  Then, on Fun Photo Friday, I’ll present a fifth series of hot air balloon pictures that represent my favorite pictures from this extraordinarily fun outing.

Pre-Dawn Glow

If it’s fall, it’s Hot Air Balloon time in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  This year’s trip to this annual event was our third, but the first in a dozen years.  That means that all my preceding shots of this awesome opportunity for colorfully whimsical photography are all pre-digital age.  It was way past time for another trip to this, the world’s largest hot air balloon festival.  This annual nine-day event is held the first full week in October and encompasses the weekends bracketing that week.

Pre-Dawn Glow

Make sure you’re well rested, because your day will start early.  Our day began at 4:00 A.M. with a wake-up in our room at the Baymont.  Before our wake-up, our alarm clock looked like this:

Our Alarm Clock Pre-Wake-Up

And afterward it appeared thusly:

That Same Alarm Clock Post-Wake-Up

But I digress.  This is an early morning event if you want to see hundreds of hot air balloons take flight into the cold (yes, bring a jacket), clear skies above Albuquerque.  There are evening events, but those involve mostly non-flying activities such as an evening “Balloon Glow” and fireworks.  Go before sunrise and you’ll get that balloon glow anyway as the “Dawn Patrol” readies to lead the way for the mass ascension as the sun peeks out over the Sandia Mountains.

The Dawn Patrol takes to the Skies

By the way, there’s more hot air here than there is in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Don’t believe me?  Here’s the Albuquerque equivalent of Speaker John Beohner:

Full of Hot Air — Must Be a Congressman

Enough of the political commentary.  Let’s get to the photo gallery (click on any image below to bring up the show):

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Still Pre-Dawn

Stork

Morning Glow

Not-So-Angry Bird

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

A Very Angry Bird

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Butterfly

Is That a Pink Elephant?

Here Come More

Lonely, But Not For Long

Filtering the Sun

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Up, Up, and Away

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta