Commanding the wide valley between the Sandia Mountains and the sweeping plateau country paralleling the Rio Grande, Albuquerque is New Mexico's largest city. At an elevation of over 4900 feet, it's elevation makes it one of the highest metropolitan areas in the United States.
We parked the RV beside Bill's cousin Ben's house in Albuquerque. That's Joanie, Ben's wife. They were just wonderful to us. Made us feel right at home. We visited Old Town on Friday, a quaint area of of flat-roofed, adobe-style buildings.
Saturday morning Ben and Joanie took us to see the famous Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. There were hundreds of balloons over Albuquerque. I liked the cow. You can see how big is was compared to the rest of the balloons.
This guy was pretty cool too. Local wind and weather conditions create what is known as the "Albuquerque Box", an atmospheric effect occurring during the fall season and enabling pilots to change direction by varying their altitude, making precision flying possible.
For this reason, hot-air balloonists come from all over the world to fly here, especially during the 9-day Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, held during the first half of October.
The most dramatic fiesta events are the mass ascensions during which some 700 colorful craft take to the sky all at once.
The most dramatic fiesta events are the mass ascensions during which some 700 colorful craft take to the sky all at once.
After all the balloons launched we started the chase. This one was right over head.
Next was a beautiful 6-mile drive through the Cibola National Forest to Sandia Peak. The leaves were gorgeous. At 10,278 feet, Sandia Peak is a popular recreation spot. We picked a great time to visit to New Mexico!
From Sandia Peak you can see up to 80 miles in the distance. This shot is overlooking Albuquerque.
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