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We reached Albuquerque on a Friday evening near the end of the 34th Annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (try saying that three times fast!). The hot air balloon Fiesta does for Albuquerque what the Gem and Mineral Show does for Tucson.

It brings in thousands of tourists who spend a ton of money and clog the streets making it difficult to get around. A young Albuquerque couple that we met in Farmington was up there because of the Balloon Fiesta. Talk about a small world, the husband rode in the same 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo Race that Lance was in this past February!

They warned us that it would be a zoo but we like Albuquerque so we went anyway. Albuquerque straddles the Rio Grande River and is flanked by the Sandia Mountains to the east. The Rio Grande Valley was already settled and farmed by the time the first Spanish explorers arrived in the 1540s. The Spaniards were tolerated until 1680 when the repressed Pueblo Indians finally revolted and chased them out.

By 1692 the Spanish had returned. In 1706 the town was laid out as an official villa and named after the Duke of Alburquerque, who was the head official in charge of Spain’s holdings in North America, Mexico and Central America. What a huge job! The original spelling was “Alburquerque” but the first “r” was dropped after the town became part of the United States in 1846. Apparently, it was too hard for gringos to pronounce!

That evening we found a vacant parking lot across from Balloon Fiesta Park and settled into our chairs to watch the fireworks. What a show! Some of the fireworks formed New Mexico state symbols, like red chiles, a roadrunner, and the Zia sun. Coolest shapes we’ve ever seen! The Fiesta shoots off fireworks every weekend night of the ten-day event.

Saturday morning dawned cool and breezy, not a good thing for hot air balloons. Only a few of the over 700 balloons were able to go up which was fine with us since we could not seem to leave our warm bed. A couple hours later, fully rested, we drove over to Petroglyph National Monument on the west side of town. There, scattered across a large basalt escarpment are over 20,000 images. The majority of the petroglyphs were carved by Native Americans 400-700 years ago. The Park, established in 1990, also protects three small cone volcanoes and some unusual geologic formations.

The Park has over 7,000 acres and is divided into several sections; obviously we couldn’t see it all so we chose to hike into Rinconada Canyon. The canyon has over 1,200 petroglyphs in it and I think we saw most of them! Modern day Pueblo Indians, whose ancestors carved most of the art, believe that the glyphs choose whom they reveal themselves to. Lucky for us, it was a good day.

The Rio Grande Valley is, and was, a fertile area that supported various human settlements for over 12,000 years. Many of the different cultures left their marks on the rocks, from the Ancestral Puebloans to Spanish explorers to pioneer ranching families. Archaeologists are able to assign date ranges to some of the art since it changed stylistically with the cultures.

We almost fell over when we saw a kachina petroglyph facing us. I had never seen anything like it before (and I’ve seen a few thousand of ‘em!). It was no surprise to learn than that some of the images have been linked to Zuni stories. Other glyphs are excellent depictions of animals that might have lived in the area while others are just plain indecipherable. They may not have meaning for us but the symbols must have had meaning to the people who worked so hard to carve them.

Beside the kachina I think I was most surprised by the 3D faces (the carver used the curves of the rock to make the face look in two directions at once) and the mission petroglyph. Circling overhead our entire visit was a Red-tailed Hawk. Maybe that is why we didn’t see a single critter other than Desert Millipedes (Orthoporus ornatus). Not that the millipedes weren’t cool, they were. Such a shiny mahogany color, and so quick to curl up when disturbed.

After lunch in our RV, looking up Rinconada Canyon, we took Bailey and Rookie for a short walk in the desert. They had a field day rolling in the dirt. It’s hard to get mad at them for getting so dirty when they are having such a good time!

We finished the afternoon at the Rio Grande Nature Center. After all, the river is the reason why people have lived in this valley for so long. The Nature Center features a restored wetland area which provides a home for waterfowl, turtles, frogs, fish and numerous terrestrial animals. The Center building forms one side of the wetland and its blinds and windows offer great views into daily pond life.

Unlike the nearby river which we walked along, the wetlands were teeming with life; Wood Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Canada Geese, American Coots, Sliders, Frogs, etc. No visit to a nature center would feel complete if I didn’t learn at least one new thing: Did you know that the beaver is the second largest rodent in the world? We also encountered our first jetty-jacks. They are tall, metal Xs designed to catch trees and other large debris during floods.

All of this exists north of Old Town, just off of Rio Grande Boulevard which was once part of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which is the route that the Spanish traveled between Santa Fe and Mexico City. I am always pleasantly surprised when a city manages to preserve a bit of nature in the middle of town.

The Nature Center closed at dusk so on the spur of the moment we drove to the Fiesta Park to join in the evening’s festivities. It was too windy for the balloons to be filled but they still fired up their burners. The propane burners are loud but they give off a bright flame tinged with blue that is eye catching. The Park was like a small town with food vendors and retail shops selling more than we would ever want as balloon fiesta souvenirs. Hot air balloon underwear anyone?

Just after dark the fireworks started and this time we were right under them. We sat on our blanket and oohed and aahed along with everyone else. Since Sunday was the last day of the Fiesta we hit the sack early. We wanted to get up for Mass Ascension, where all the balloons go up, which starts at sunrise (around 6:30), weather permitting.

It is times like these that we really love our RV. We were able to stay warm and eat our breakfast while watching cars stream in with their headlights on. The sun was just peeking over the Sandias when we walked onto the field. It was cool but not windy or rainy, yeah! That meant the Mass Ascension was on. The generators buzzed as large industrial sized fans began filling the envelopes (silk part of balloon that holds the air). It was fascinating to watch—talk about a lot of work!

Each balloon has a crew of at least six people that help unroll the envelope, unload and turnover the gondola (the basket where the people stand), position and start the fan, hold the tethers of the envelope (so it doesn’t blow away), upright the gondola once the envelope is full and release the balloon once the zebra (balloon fiesta referee and air traffic controller) has given the all clear. And that’s just the beginning of their day.

The real challenges are faced by the pilot and the chase crew. The term pilot might be a stretch since the balloon is mostly at the mercy of the prevailing winds. The pilot can only really control up, down and some side to side movement. At some point the pilot must find a place to land.

Any open space will do and many a landowner has been startled awake by the whoosh of a hot air balloon landing in their yard. Meanwhile the chase crew has been driving across the city trying to catch up with the balloon. If they are lucky they arrive shortly after the balloon has landed and the crew begins the hour long process of deflation and repacking.

We only saw the balloons float serenely off into the distance like brightly colored ornaments. In fact, it wasn’t until a few days later that we learned of the balloon accidents. One was blown into power lines, another narrowly missed landing in traffic on I-25 and yet another balloon had a bumpy landing that knocked everyone in the gondola to the ground. Thankfully no one was killed!

After a well-deserved nap in our RV we headed to our home for the week, El Rancho RV Park. It was quite possibly the worst RV park in the world; no showers, no laundry, no facilities of any kind and extremely rude and unhelpful managers. It did, however, have one thing: location. We were near downtown just off Route 66, the famous highway of song.

Photos: View the photos from the Balloon Fiesta, the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and our visit to Petroglyph National Monument.

Dates: We stayed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 10/13/06 to 10/29/06.