Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

 

 

Amazingly we managed to get the Subaru all rigged out to tow. We left Cochiti Lake on Thursday at 6:30 for a rush hour trip to Statkus in Albuquerque to get the base plate, auxiliary brake and wiring done. It took all day but it was nice having our house with us to wait in. There was one part missing that Jim failed to remove from our old car, but luckily it was still at the dealer’s. It was after 5 by then and too late for us to get the part, so Statkus let us stay in their lot overnight, locked in their gated and barbed wire fenced yard. There was quite a bit of traffic noise, being located at the junction of I-40 and I-25, but it was a free pace to stay.

First thing yesterday morning we went to the car dealer to get the part, picked up some paperwork we were waiting on, stopped by the UPS Store to get the trailer hitch we had ordered for the car, and headed to the Balloon Fiesta.  Jim and John spent the afternoon putting the hitch on the Subaru so we could put the bike rack on, and now we should be good to go. We can’t believe we got all that done this week. It was a lot more stress than we’re used to!

Today was the start of the Balloon Fiesta, and since I woke up before 6 due to the traffic and helicopter noise, decided to walk over to the Balloon Park and watch the mass ascension at 7. Unfortunately the winds were too strong to launch, and tomorrow isn’t looking much better. This is such a huge festival and takes so much work, it’s a shame when the weather doesn’t cooperate. I’m just glad we’ve seen it before so even if they don’t get to launch this weekend it won’t really matter.

From the 2010 Fiesta.

We really just stopped here to see all our Lazy Daze friends, anyway. So far there are 25 rigs here, with 5 more still expected to come. It’s been fun and busy visiting with the people we already know, and meeting quite a few new faces. Thanks Robin and Lydia for the 6 pack from their local microbrewery in CA. They have an Anniversary Edition exactly like ours and we spent this morning looking at each others rigs to see what kind of modifications we’ve done and getting new ideas. Always a good time, and we always come away with more projects for Jim.