DAY 5 OF THE ALBUQUERQUE INTERNATIONAL BALLOON FIESTA (THE BOX)

Currently in Rio Rancho NM (Low 48 Sunny and Delightful High 74) 

Yesterday was the 'Flight of Nations Mass Ascension'. We are going to give you a slightly different view as all photos were taken from the back window. It was cold, in the 30s, and yesterday was a departure day, so we stayed inside.

"The Box" was in full force early as we saw balloons heading left then would be back then head left again. We must have seen some of the balloons three or four times.

Preparing for the mass ascension

Here are some mass ascension photos.

We ended up with a few balloons right above us.

Then the wind died down and some ended up in the trees

And some lucky ones landed on the launch field.

We are so glad that we had the site we had which allowed such great views of the launch field, and the fireworks earlier in our stay.

We left yesterday morning and drove about 15 miles north to Rio Rancho and the Stagecoach Stop RV Park where we will be for a week. Hopefully if the wind is right we will be able to see the special shapes today and Friday as those are the days of the "Special Shape Rodeo". 

We finally got in contact with Dale's Mobile RV Service and he came out this morning and looked at our errant slideout. He felt that the job was a little more than he could do at our site and suggested we take it into a shop. We called around and the earliest we could get in is late October or November so we decided to get the repair done after we get to our winter location in Goodyear Arizona in mid-November. They will come out the day after we get there to assess the work needed. They will order the parts if needed and the plan is to then go to their shop and be in and out the same day. That is a great plan for us fulltimers so we won't have to deal with getting a pet friendly hotel room.

We'll keep you posted on the slideout repairs and don't worry there are even more balloon photos coming your way.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo