2010 International Balloon Fiesta

I went to the opening day of the Balloon Fiesta this morning, which meant getting up around 4:30 in the morning. I went by myself, because Dan's not yet feeling up to tromping across acres and acres of turf. Actually, he had planned to give it a try before we learned that Chris, Kelsey and the grandkids weren't going to be here. It had been a long-planned-for vacation for them (and treat for us), but both Clara and Robert came down with a bad bug and weren't able to travel. So sad! But there's always next year.

Last night we had a big thunder storm move through, and I feared that the weather would still be bad this morning, and that the balloons would be grounded. But today dawned clear. There was a little breeze before sunrise, which kept the Dawn Patrol from going up, but by the time the sun peeked over the Sandias, the wind had died and all of the balloons took to the air for a successful mass ascension.