Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Day 5

 

This is day 5 of this fantastic event even though I've missed a few days by doing other things. This is the first day we took a shuttle from the casino to the actual field where the balloons take off. We started out from our RVs about 4:45 to get the shuttle the casino supplies for a small fee. 

 

It was still totally dark when we arrived at the gate and wandered out into the field where trucks were pulling trailers full of balloons and equipment into the area. We watched them as they spread out the balloons and started getting the other equipment together.

 

As the balloons were filled with hot air, they started to rise from the ground until the baskets were sitting upright. The balloons were still tethered to the ground and every once in a while you'd hear them give the propane burner a throttle just to keep the hot air in them.

 

They sat there a while, lighting up the balloons and then letting them go dark again until they needed more hot air.

 

When it became light enough, the balloons slowly started to rise. It took approximately 1-2 hours for most of the balloons to take off. We wandered around the field looking at all the different balloons and taking pictures.  Even the police were there.....

Hope you enjoy these photos......