Think about your morning routine, then think about what would have to happen for you and another person to be awake, clean and dressed in time to get out the door of a hotel room by 5:45 am. Now, prepare to be impressed- we hit the mark, but we hit it early by about ten minutes.
Rainbow Ryders is the name of the company Cas selected for my birthday balloon ride, and they expected us to arrive before six. It all makes sense, too, because we were there to see the sun rise from the basket of a hot air balloon.
We got there, and we were assigned a pilot. They have color-coded tickets, based on who is flying you around Albuquerque. We had green tickets, so that meant that we’d be spending the morning with Alfred.
Spoiler alert: Alfred is clearly the best pilot. He has been doing this for over two decades, and he knows exactly how to maneuver a balloon to travel exactly where he wants to go and land precisely where he wants it to land. The dude had us floating just above treetops when he wanted us to be low, but he had us way up high when that was called for. He’s very good And he was our pilot on the best and most unique birthday balloon I have ever had anything to do with.
We met about a block from our hotel, checked in, signed a waiver and hopped into a van. They took us to a shopping mall parking lot, which is one of their alternative locations when the Balloon Fiesta Park is closed- more on that later. Cas commented that the balloon launch was the most positive experience he’d ever had at a mall. Me, too, honestly. Man, we’re both bad at shopping.
We floated above the world. At times, it was perfectly silent except for a dog barking in some distant neighborhood. At other moments, we heard nothing but the rush of the giant column of flame that kept us aloft. It was very, very cool.
We floated around, rising and falling for about an hour, until we were ready to land in Mariposa Park. I love the word Mariposa. It’s Spanish for Butterfly. Mariposa is such a prettier way to say it than Butterfly.
Regardless, we landed smoothly at Mariposa park, and in proper hot-air-balloon tradition, we had champagne to celebrate a successful flight. The Rainbow Ryders staff brought a cooler with all the stuff to make mimosas, and Cas was on board with a mimosa when we got off board from the balloon to have a toast.
This was, far and away, the coolest, most unique and very best birthday present I have ever received. Second best, of course, was the red bicycle when I was five. I mean, it had a white woven basket, and Dad painted it red himself. But seriously, did it fly?
After the balloon trip across the skies of Albuquerque, we managed to make it back to the hotel in time for the last bites of breakfast. We did all of this majestic floating before nine. We made a plate of food each, walked back to the room and ate a few bites before our pre-afternoon-nap. And a necessary nap it was- it was about an hour and a half from our heads hitting the pillows to the moment when we were back up and spreading on sunscreen.
Stop number two today was the Albuquerque Harvest Wine Festival. That was held at a place called Balloon Fiesta Park. Obviously, that’s why we couldn’t launch a balloon from there. Okay, I get it.
The festival was nice, of course, but we made the tactical error of walking there. In my estimation, there are two kinds of walks you can take. One is a leisure walk, and the other is a transportation walk Our journey was a 25 minute walk that, aspirationally, we had wanted to be a leisure walk. It was such a transportation walk. All business. No scenery, no joy. Are we there yet?
About a third of the way in, we discussed the option of taking an Uber back to the hotel. We arrived back in our hotel in a red Tesla driven by a nice man named Joel.
Now, it’s time to relax. We had a box in the hotel room fridge from last night’s dinner and some wine for which my identification was checked just yesterday. We are in for the night. Good thing, too. We can’t pack too much more into this weekend. It’s time to wind down and head back home tomorrow. Apparently, we are just starting the school year. Who can remember these things? But until then, enjoy this image of us, being silly this morning:
While we’re talking about it, here, finally, is our photo album!
Enjoy!
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