Albuquerque, N.M. balloon festival 2018
Planning on camping in the Albuquerque, N.M. area to visit the 2018 Balloon Festival. Would appreciate your suggestions on area campgrounds and how they rate. We'll be camping in a 31' 5th wheel and ...
Forum Discussion
Google the fiesta & get swamped with info on the official website.
We did the fiesta this year, for the 3rd time. You learn a few things after a time or two. First of all, just like in times before we stayed in the huge dry camping area across Alameda Ave. $35PN. Way cheaper than sites with power. FHU onsite is not available. Don't think power & water is available either onsite.
The honey truck roams the CGs all day & into the evening as does the freshwater truck. Don't know what they charge. We have never used either one.
Things like the Fiesta sorts out the good RVs from the not so good. Battery bank capacity & freshwater tank capacity are king along with the owners ability to conserve the usage of both. Generator hours are limited & most people are very considerate in genny usage. When you are camping rally style you need to be.
Here is a biggie. NO, you do not need to make reservations. Not in the dry camping area anyway. The first Friday, Saturday, & to a degree Sunday, the CGs are full, or near full. After the Sunday flight people start to leave. Monday more leave. By Tuesday there are big holes in the camping area all over the place. Everyday more leave than come in. In the dry camping area they start accepting drive ups late every morning.
This year we arrived on Tuesday a little after 12:00 & drove right in. No check in line. Got placed in one of the rows near the front. PERFECT! We stayed 6 nights. The 6th, Sunday after the end, was no charge. Quite a few others did as well but by Monday mid morning the camping area is about deserted.
The dry camping area is the best because usually there is no need to go to the launch field. There is no need to get up at 3:00AM to deal with traffic, to deal with parking, to walk walk walk. Given the most common air currents the balloons come to you. Hundreds of them. Some land in a big area kept open in the middle of the camping area. Later in the week they even land right in the middle of the campers where there are holes left by vacated groups.
Like going to Alaska this is an event that is made for RVs
Having said all that, you really do need to go to the launch field at least once, even if just for the glow & fireworks.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
We did the fiesta this year, for the 3rd time. You learn a few things after a time or two. First of all, just like in times before we stayed in the huge dry camping area across Alameda Ave. $35PN. Way cheaper than sites with power. FHU onsite is not available. Don't think power & water is available either onsite.
The honey truck roams the CGs all day & into the evening as does the freshwater truck. Don't know what they charge. We have never used either one.
Things like the Fiesta sorts out the good RVs from the not so good. Battery bank capacity & freshwater tank capacity are king along with the owners ability to conserve the usage of both. Generator hours are limited & most people are very considerate in genny usage. When you are camping rally style you need to be.
Here is a biggie. NO, you do not need to make reservations. Not in the dry camping area anyway. The first Friday, Saturday, & to a degree Sunday, the CGs are full, or near full. After the Sunday flight people start to leave. Monday more leave. By Tuesday there are big holes in the camping area all over the place. Everyday more leave than come in. In the dry camping area they start accepting drive ups late every morning.
This year we arrived on Tuesday a little after 12:00 & drove right in. No check in line. Got placed in one of the rows near the front. PERFECT! We stayed 6 nights. The 6th, Sunday after the end, was no charge. Quite a few others did as well but by Monday mid morning the camping area is about deserted.
The dry camping area is the best because usually there is no need to go to the launch field. There is no need to get up at 3:00AM to deal with traffic, to deal with parking, to walk walk walk. Given the most common air currents the balloons come to you. Hundreds of them. Some land in a big area kept open in the middle of the camping area. Later in the week they even land right in the middle of the campers where there are holes left by vacated groups.
Like going to Alaska this is an event that is made for RVs
Having said all that, you really do need to go to the launch field at least once, even if just for the glow & fireworks.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
