On a much happier note we flew from London to Albuquerque (talk about a very long day) and met up with my sister and her husband, Annette, Gaby and KC and the great grandmother, Duffy!  We also had the pleasure of going to our first balloon ascension day with our friend, Arlene Feen and her grandchildren and daughter who came out from Vegas!  A wonderful, big fun group who enjoyed the day!  However, as warned, it is really cold at 4:30 am and after the sun goes down! BRRRRR!  We had five brave adventurist a who went up yesterday with all the balloons:  Grant, Trey, Gaby, Arlene and her granddaughter, Brittany!  They were in the blue and black balloon labeled 96.5 am,  they had an awesome time.  Yesterday the winds were dead calm and perfect for flying.  Today the winds were much stronger and they were really moving very quickly once they were up and away.  Because of the stronger winds, some of the bigger shape balloons did not make it up today.  

We also had to get some shopping in! So today we went to the awesome Rio Grand Arts and Crafts festival and did some damage!  The day before yesterday, we drove to Santa Fe along old Route 66 and stopped at the artist colony of Madrid where we also did a little shopping.  

Last night we we t back to the Fiesta to see something they call a “Glowdeo”!  This is when all the balloons stay tethered but they use the heaters to light them up at dusk. They just don’t fly!  It’s a beautiful thing to see, however, it was canceled last night because of wind.  They did put on a magnificent fireworks show!  We are going back tonight in hopes of finally seeing the “Glowdeo”!

I must say we have had tickets each day for the Goldola Club- absolutely they way to go!  Warm tent with delicious breakfasts and dinners, open bar, hot chocolate and coffee galore, deluxe bathrooms nearby and volunteers who could NOT be nicer or more helpful!  EVERYONE one of them ( and it’s a lot of work with several hundred thousand people coming to this event!) has been super nice!  Very well organized event!  Now, enjoy the ballon show!  But keep in mind. No photos can truly capture the experience!