Happy 40th Anniversary, Gary----

even though it was a six-month late celebration, it was well-worth the wait.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

FYI-This is the largest balloon festival in the world.  It started in 1972 actually as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of a local radio station with 13 balloons being present.  Now they average well over 500 balloons over the 10 day event in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  I thought they estimate about 800 this year.  Thousands of people come to watch the balloons and participate in related events.

For us (like most people) the day started very early.  We had bought a park and ride ticket which meant we went to a location away from the fiesta and took a bus into the actual event.  Our hotel was north of town in Bernalillo, so we took a short ride into the NW part of Albuquerque and parked at Intel.  We did make a stop at Wal-Mart for sweatshirts as we weren't quite prepared for the cool night air.  I think we got to the Intel parking lot around 4:30 am.  There we waited in a long line for school buses to transport us to the event.  We found out that the delay was due to an accident on the freeway coming back from the festival which was holding up the buses which were trying to return and pick up more people.  Despite that delay, the park and ride was definitely the way to do it as the buses dropped you off right at the gate to enter into the park.

dark and cold start to the day

Because of the delay, we thought we had missed the Dawn Glow of Balloons.  But actually the winds had been too high, so it had been delayed a bit and then they only did it briefly.

Although a few balloons had already taken off in the early dawn, here are the official balloons launched for the beginning of the fiesta carrying the American flags.

Everywhere there were balloons in various stages of preparing to launch...and people everywhere as well. 

Big news day--Opening of the Balloon Fiesta

A glowing balloon

 There was one row of about 7 identical balloons for some company....

The variety of types of balloons was amazing--I didn't take pictures of all 800 so you will have to go yourself sometime and pick your favorite ones.

The Rainbow Ryders filling up......

Did I mention that there were lots of people there?

Rainbow Ryders almost ready--

Everywhere there were bright colors and patterns--you didn't want to miss any of it.

We are here (or there, depending on how you want to look at it.)  There is a sweetness connected with experiences like this, when you are doing something for a special reason or you have waited a long time to do it.  Now, if you know me, I love to travel and there are not many places I wouldn't go to if time, money, and resources were available.  I love standing on a spot or seeing something that I have never seen before.  I am so geeky about it that I even get a kick out of going on a new piece of road or a different overpass that I have never traveled.

BUT, as I mentioned, there are things which add to that--the sweetness.

We were here to celebrate 40 years of marriage--that alone is a significant reason.  Marrying Gary has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.  Our courtship was a bit unconventional, but I know that it was the right time, the right person, and the right place when we knelt in the temple in March and were sealed for time and all eternity. The journey we have traveled has been the one that we were meant to be on and the only way it could have happened was together.

Years ago, my parents celebrated their 40th anniversary at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival in 1994.  After seeing their photos, I remember telling Gary that we should celebrate our 40th in the same way.  My mother passed away early in 1995 which made that goal even more important to me.  And we made it.  From an comment in 1994 to the fields of New Mexico in 2018, we made it happen.  A famous quote states that "life is what happens while we are making plans."  That has been true in our lives.  Most of the amazing things we have experienced didn't happen exactly as we would have planned or seen it beforehand. (After all, we thought when we married, that we would live in Springfield, Missouri, and raise our family there in one place in somewhat the pattern that we had been raised. )  But sometimes, a goal is accomplished and that can be amazing.  All morning, I kept thinking, we are really here.  I am not going to lie--it brought tears to my eyes again and again.

And the best thing that added to the sweetness was the thought that I was walking and doing something that my own parents had done to celebrate their marriage.  My mom had loved it all.  She was so excited to share her photos from the fiesta with me.  I remember that she said that they had seen the balloons for her and done the train ride for my dad.  That was the pattern of their marriage and the gift that they gave us as their children.  They shared their lives together while honoring and supporting their individual interests and talents.  I was so grateful as I walked on those fields and saw the gorgeous balloons.  My mom loved balloons so much so that at her funeral (before we knew how environmentally unsound it was) all of the grandchildren released yellow balloons from the church parking lot to show their love of her.  I love balloons as well.  Sharing that experience over 24 years span made me grateful for everything that my mom taught me to love in this world. And then, I really cried.

Gary had never seen a balloon prepare for lift off, so we hung around and watched the process of one balloon from start to finish.

They start by laying out the balloon and then begin filling it with a fan.  Notice the big circular fan in the right side of the photo.

It takes a while for air to start filling up the inside of the balloon.

The view from the basket into the balloon.

 Turning toward the rising sun, you get some idea of the number of balloons.  They dotted the skies.

Inside the balloon as they spread out the fabric.

Smoky Bear popping over the ridge of balloons.

This is the back of the jacket of one of the team helping with the balloon.  This is an amazing but complex sport.  And it is probably very expensive.  Teams and balloons came from all over the world to take part in the fiesta.

As an "owl" from Wood Badge I had to take a picture of this balloon.

Back to our balloon--now the fire burner is turned on to cause the balloon to start the process of lifting off the ground.

As they continue to shoot the fire into the balloon, it gradually starts to go upright.

 There it is, up into the air.

The team loads into the basket while other team members manage the ropes which are keeping the balloon and basket stable and on the ground for a few more minutes.  The ground team members then have to load up in their van and head to meet them when they finally land somewhere in the area.

 I was thinking about what type of balloon I would want to own (don't worry, Gary, it is not on my bucket list.) and I decided I would want a globe one.  Several minutes later, I saw this one so I guess my idea was not too original.

On a day I was sharing with my mom, I thought a picture of the American Heart Association was appropriate.

And finally, liftoff for our balloon...........

The colors again were amazing.

Isn't this the cutest balloon ever?

The picture below was a photo I shouldn't have taken and am lucky didn't hurt my phone's camera.  At one point in the morning, the whole area got dark because of a balloon passing between us and the rising sun.  It reminded me exactly of an eclipse and I thought I could get a picture of the balloon.  I shot this photo as the sun started shining again and missed the balloon that had caused the phenomena.  However, I loved how it turned out.

I fell in love with balloons in Plano, Texas, where the winds and the landscape were perfect for them.  So it was fun to catch this photo of one from the city of Plano.  They were having trouble this morning and never got this balloon in the air, however.

There you have it---the Balloon Fiesta.  To my kids, maybe you could go and celebrate 40 years of marriage as well and continue this awesome tradition!  The rest of you--put it on your list of things to do someday.  It was awesome.