I’ve flown from the pancake flat land and water of Louisiana to the high mountainous desert of New Mexico. I’m here, staying with my friends Jeannie and Jack, for the balloon festival. Jeannie and Jack recently bought a new home with breathtaking views and frequent visits by wild horses, bears, and other wildlife. I’m staying in their casita, which in Manhattan would be a large and desirable apartment.
About twenty years ago I went to the balloon festival and vowed I would return. I’m thrilled to be back here for it. The festival officially gets underway tomorrow.
We left the house early this morning, expecting to see a few balloons in the air taking practice flights and dropping by schools. As we rounded a bend in the highway there was a delightful surprise—dozens of balloons drifting across the sky. That is a small fraction of the anticipated 600+ balloons that will participate in the festival. Seeing them aloft amped up my anticipation for the main event.
This weekend there are art shows and other festivals all over the area. The balloon festival is only active early morning and at dusk, so in the middle of the day visitors have a lot of time to go to other events. We headed over to the Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival. It’s a juried show with about two hundred artists. The quality of the work was fantastic. I restrained myself from buying anything, but I have to say that was tough.
Though we’d just seen fabulous artwork, we then headed to Corrales. It’s a funky small town with a slew of co-op galleries featuring talented local artists. We didn’t have nearly enough time to explore, so we’ll have to go back.
Our last stop was El Pinto restaurant for lunch. Delicious Mexican food, beautiful setting, fantastic service, not to mention great margaritas.
Jeannie needed to run a few errands, then we came back to relax. Tomorrow morning, we need to be up and out super early!