It’s Balloon Fiesta time y’all! If you haven’t seen video or pictures of the past weeks festivities, I’ve got you covered. I haven’t been to a Mass Ascension since 1995, wow has it been that long! It’s much different and at the same time much the same as it was all those years ago. It’s a magical experience to walk among the balloons as they are stretched across a huge field in anticipation of launching around 550 hot air balloons. Whoever choreographed this is brilliant with so many balloons to manage among huge crowds of people. As they begin to inflate and take shape you will see them float upward in a choreographed wave. We arrived on opening day, later than we anticipated after a 2 hour wait in line to catch a bus out to the balloon field. But we were luckier than some who never made it out to the field at all. It was disappointing to see that more than half the balloons had already launched by the time we were dropped off and made our way onto the field. We had to wind our way through a virtual wall of people all trying to see the last wave of balloons. Everyone wanted to capture the magic in photos. While we were saddened in missing some of the earlier events we did manage to see some extraordinary balloons and had a wonderful time. We will be back, but next time we will plan better and get there earlier. Next time we will arrive to see the Dawn Patrol as they ascend before first light and watch them glow through the early morning air. Next time we will take more photos. Next time can’t come soon enough!!
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