10-13-07 Saturday

Up early again...4:45 a.m. to go back to the Balloon Fiesta. Today was a mass ascension with regular balloons with a few special shapes that decided to participate as well. There were over 700 balloons that were participating this a.m. They were EVERYWHERE. This a.m. a balloon from the United Arab Emirates (I think from Dubai) was chosen to carry the American flag while the national anthem played. It took off from our end of the field. We went to the same end of the field as we were yesterday, but of course today the wind was from the opposite direction so the balloons were floating away from us. I walked down among the balloons and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! Talk about being surrounded by nylon!!!! It was so crowded on that field. Turns out Jerry, Carol and Annie also walked down among the throngs of balloons. Pictures cannot even begin to depict the enormity and scale of this. Propane burners were whooshing, whistles blowing as wave after wave after wave of balloons floated up in the sky. There was not a great deal of wind so they did not drift away too fast. I love the special shapes, but the scope of this was just breathtaking!!! In terms of mass ascensions this was just incredible!!!

Stopped by the hotel then headed out to Sandia Crest to take the tram up the 10,300+ ft. mountain that shadows Albuquerque. When we got there the line was UNBELIEVABLY long...would have taken at least 2 hours just to purchase tickets...trams only run every 15 min. or so b/c it takes so long for them to get up the mountain. This is the longest tramway in North America at over 1 1/2 miles long. We decided not to wait in line for tickets and opted to drive up the back side of the mountain instead. The view from the top was amazing...you can see forever it seems. It was very windy on top and at that altitude, it was also very cold. To get in out of the cold and wind we went into the snack bar and although none of us were very hungry we decided to split a large Frito pie (layer of fritos topped w/ chili, lettuce, tomatoes and olives) and get something to drink. The chili turned out to be VERY hot....even made my lips burn, but we ate most of it anyway. After that we headed back down the mountain and after getting directions and a brief stop at the hotel we headed for Old Town.
In Old Town Albuquerque we poked around in some shops. There is lots of jewelry for sale here...lots of turquoise and silver, and lots of weaving. Annie had already gotten her jewelry and this afternoon Carol found a woven rug that she liked and bought to hang in her kitchen. After walking around looking at everything, we went to eat at La Placitas. It is a Mexican restaurant located in an historic building that, according to the placard was built in the early 1700's. The town itself was established in 1706. The Cathedral of San Felipe de Neri on the square is also beautiful. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed our evening. None of us can believe it is all over as Carol and Annie leave in the morning. Back to the hotel where they finished packing and I spent some time on the computer and made some DVD's of all the pictures I had taken so far on the trip....actually took 2 DVD's for each of them to get all the pictures on them.