5 AM

We have lived in Abq for 11 years and had not been to a mass ascension during balloon fiesta. We tried to go last year and didn't leave until around 6am and the traffic was so bad that we never even got to the exit off the freeway and missed the whole thing. It wasn't a pretty site inside our car that day. Hunger and grumpiness got the best of us for sure. This year we decided to try one more time, but leave at 5am. Yea, it worked. We got to experience mass ascension for the first time. The difference between a mass ascension and a glowdeo is lift off. It is one thing to be standing next to the massive balloons and another to then have them lift off and fly away. Next on my list is to actully fly in one. It really was spectacular and I highly recommend it. You get home around 10am and then you take a nice long nap.




The tradition that we do every year is go to the balloon glowdeo. It is always hit or miss if the balloons will actually inflate because if the wind is over 10 mph they will burn up when they go hot. We knew when we left that it wasn't likely that they would go up, but there are lots of fun booths to check out and lots of grass for a picnic. So, we went anyway and sure enough it was cancelled. But we still had lots of fun. Christin is obsessed with a chin hair that she has named Maurice and he had made a reappearance. Since I had a flashlight and some tweezers, I took care of Maurice for her. Too funny. I also got a hat from one of the booths and Brennan really thought that yellow was the way to go, so he got one too. Don't we look awesome? We took a virtual tour of Texas and rocked out to a cover band that was playing and ate lots of good food. I look forward to this time of year and I'm so sad now that it is over.