Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta – Day Four

The alarm on my Samsung Galaxy S5 gently woke me at 4:25am again this (Tuesday) morning. This can’t become a routine I thought as I realized it already has. As the fog cleared from my brain, I remembered that today was my birthday – yesterday I was 58 years old, today that’s no longer the case. How does the time fly by?

Yesterday, after we returned from the balloon fiesta field, Donna started preparing a carrot cake. She chopped and mixed the ingredients then took the bowl of batter to Jim and Barb’s place to cook it in their oven as she needed to bake it in a pan that was too large for our oven. I made a Costco run for bottled water and liquor.

When we walked to Larry and Ruth’s place this morning to ride in their van to the balloon fiesta park, it dawned on me that the carrot cake was a birthday cake.  Donna made it to share with the rest of the team at the tailgate party that happens after the balloon comes down and gets put it away.

Today was another competition day at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Our pilot, Brad Rice, would compete again in an accuracy competition. The object once again was to drop a bean bag on a X in the balloon fiesta field. During this morning’s pilot briefing, I heard that competitors are required to launch a minimum of one mile away from the target. The competition would open at 8am and close at 9:30am.

We drove to the same launch site we used yesterday. This time the area was overrun as many pilots thought this was the place to launch. Donna made the trip today – unlike yesterday’s miss.

Busy launch site and lots of balloons over the field

Busy launch site and lots of balloons over the field

We had tight quarters as we prepped the balloon. There was more ground wind than we’ve had up to this point. Holding the lines to the envelope was a challenge – Donna jumped in to help Aaron who was struggling to hold the lines across from me. She was wishing for heavier gloves as the lines pulled hard. I was holding the bottom of the envelope open as Brad hit the burners to inflate it. The wind was quartering toward me. By the time we had the envelope fully inflated and upright, my left forearm was singed and red. Those burners put out a lot of heat!

After we launched, we drove to the large parking lot behind the Presbyterian Administration Center. This is where Brad landed the Hearts A’Fire balloon yesterday. From the west end of the parking lot, we had a great view of the field and target area.

The scale and number of balloons is hard to imagine

The scale and number of balloons is hard to imagine

Brad took his time, but he made his pass over the field before the 9:30am time limit and made a great drop. We watched as he passed low over the drop zone, then continued a few feet above ground level to land in the south field. We hauled out of there to recover the balloon.

After packing up, we met at our assigned launch site – H7 – to tailgate and enjoy the birthday carrot cake, mimosas and beer. What a great way to celebrate a birthday.

16 thoughts on “Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta – Day Four”

  3. Gary

    Happy Birthday Mike.🍻
    You got plenty of Balloons for your special day.
    Carrot Cake my favorite.
    Gary

  6. Brett+Cheri [Hello Freedom}

    Mike, we so pleased you and Donna have had such a memorable time there, especially on your birthday. We were there last year for our Anniversary and it is something we will never forget. Did you hook up with Technomadia or WheelingIt?

    1. Mike Kuper Post author

      Hey Brett and Cheri – Thanks! I saw Chris and Cherie last weekend and again yesterday. I chatted with Nina briefly on Friday. I met up with Jeff and Deb (Rolling Recess) and I met Eric Highland and his wife Brittany (RV Wanderlust) yesterday as well. Working hard and having a blast at the Balloon Fiesta.

  9. Maureen Scott

    Hello Mike and Donna
    Really enjoyed all the details and descriptions of your hot air balloon adventure!!
    So enjoyable to read your blogs and again thanks for letting me travel along. Happy Birthday also. Maureen Scott

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