Albuquerque First Day Surprises Greetings from Albuquerque!!! You know that saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade?" or what about that saying "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Yes, well, that was me this morning. Last night we had a bumpy arrival into Albuquerque. The flights were fantastic, the car pick up was great, getting to our hotel was terrific...until we walked into the hotel.
It was really pretty ...dumpy, to say the least. I will not go into it at this time. But, suffice it to say, the manager, Bob, was a total stand-up guy and actually set us up in a beautiful hotel a few miles away, when I went to check out because I just refused to stay in such a dirty and run-down hotel. After getting settled a few hours later and having a great reunion with Tanya, Cosette and Dominic, we go to sleep with plans to get up and out by 4:30AM. Well...Kelsey had a terrible stomach ache for the next few hours and got sick. Finally going to sleep at like midnight, I'm thinking, I'm staying back at the hotel with this kid in the morning because she has some kind of bug.  Balloon Fiesta, 2014 - photo by Gianna At 4AM, she informs me that she is feeling just fine and wants to go. So, guess who is now sick - yup - ME! That's right - months of anticipation for the first day of balloon ascension and I'm stuck in bed with a killer stomach ache and throbbing headache!! I can't tell you how bummed I am. Now, I spoke with Tanya - she took all the kiddies with her and she said it was "more balloons than I've ever seen in my life!!!!" So, you know you have to read her Daily today to get the low-down on the event.  Wicked Balloon pre-dawn  Krispy Kreme going up, up, up However, my little Gianna captured some great shots!! Way to many to put on our Daily - we will upload to Facebook and Instagram later!!
As for me, I'm planning to go to the morning session tomorrow with whoever will tag along so I can experience it first hand. For now, I'm just resting and letting this pain pass. The rest of this day will be pretty mellow since these guys will be coming home early and we all plan to go to the Old Town later for some walking around and eating! Some days just don't work out as you had hoped, but you need to stay optimistic! Either way, I'm in a beautiful place, with people I love, and that's what counts! Sorry I don't have more excitement to share with you today :-( I promise, there will be more to tell you about tomorrow! -E  | Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 2014Leading up to today, the kids and I spent the first two days of our trip in Sedona, then left for Albuquerque yesterday. On our journey out to New Mexico, plans were to make a side trip to the Petrified Forest National Park, and we had a surprise stop along the way... While taking a break at a pitstop, I browsed the postcard rack and saw an extremely picturesque card that I liked. Realizing that I didn't have any cash on me, and not wanting to only put a silly little postcard on a credit card, I just decided to pass it up. Continuing to the NP, and only about 5 minutes back into the drive - I noticed that we were driving into the scene that was on the postcard! It was the Wigwam Motel (from the postcard); I pulled over immediately and the three of us had a ton of fun doing a photo shoot at the Wigwam (which The Cozy Cone Motel in the movie Cars was designed after).   After our fun at the Wigwam, we continued onward to The Petrified Forest National Park. Such a unique place, and the "forest" stumps are so beautiful, especially with the backdrop of the Painted Desert behind them!  Dominic and I were having a great time exploring, while Cosette was just not in the mood. This girl was so full of complaints and just wanted to get the show back on the road and to Albuquerque! I think it was a combo of her being excited to se her cousins, and being hungry. She was back in the game once she ate, and she was eager for me to stop the car so that she can take pictures.   When we had finished up with this park, I was back on interstate 40 for about another 3+ hours. The kids fell asleep, and I got the horror messages from Elisa (describing the awful hotel). This certainly didn't sound good! Luckily it was all straightened out before I had pulled into Albuquerque. The rest of the night, was ordering take out, checking in, and finally getting to see Elisa and the girls! Until Dave B. sent me a text informing me of his flight being delayed until 11:50p. Ugh - I really wanted to get some sleep... Up again at 3:30am this morning and I find out that we had an unfortunate turn of events. Elisa was up late with Kelsey (who wasn't feeling well), and when it was time to get ready for the first day of Balloon Fiesta, Elisa was feeling ill and Kelsey was rearing to go! As it turns out, I guess it was better that we changed our rental because we now have 6 seats and the girls could come with us, allowing Elisa time to rest up and feel better! Off we headed to Balloon Fiesta Park at 4:45am this morning. The "new" hotel that we are staying at is only one exit away from the event, and there was so much traffic that it took us a full hour to park and arrive. It was still pitch black out upon our arrival, and we hit the grounds eager to see some hot air balloons!
 At first there were only about 4 balloons that were "glowing", and no sign of the other 546! I was a bit disappointed, expecting to see the highly anticipated Mass Ascension! Regardless, we were all over the grounds snapping away, excited at any balloon prepping to lift off! After the 7am opening ceremony, the skies filled with more balloons than I have ever seen in my life!  But the sun was still behind the mountains and the lighting wasn't any good. Another bummer. However patience pays off, and the sun came out and shined brightly over then entire park, the balloons were lit beautifully. It was so colorful and fun!
   Sooo many pictures to share! But I'm gonna stop here for now. Check back on FaceBook and Twitter later today and over the entire road trip for lots more pictures to introduce you to New Mexico through our eyes! I'm gonna rest a bit before we head out to Old Town. Hope you are having a fantastic Saturday, and I look forward to seeing you back here again tomorrow. -T |
