Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Well, the weather turned out much nicer than was forecast. I think the balloons have launched every day except one. I love that about Albuquerque, if you don't like the weather now, just blink and it will change. They are calling for heavy snow Sunday night into Monday for the northern half of the state. Be safe in your travels.

We were there last Saturday morning for the launch. We stopped for an hour or two in the parking lot of a Starbucks in Rio Rancho, and the prevailing winds sent the balloons right over head. I had checked the weather report the night before, and figured that place was a likely fly over spot.
Quite nice, really.

We have been 3 times. First time with reservations, owners group, other 2 times no reservations.

Last year we rolled in on Tuesday just after noon. No line. Loads of spaces. Got a site in the third lane in. Shuttles to launch field are frequent but we walked the few times we went to the launch field. JMO but you get the best views from the dry camping area anyway.

There is a good chance that some will land right in the camping area.


Click For Full-Size Image.

UPDATE. Arrived at around 11:30 A.M. There were probably a dozen vehicles ahead of us and they were checking people in. So, half an hour before official start is not too early.

We took a walk around 2:00 and line was triple in length.

The most reasonable camping is the dry camping area on the grounds at the south end of the lift-off area. It's also a great area to watch the balloons go low and right over your RV. Sometimes they even land there. You can walk or the free shuttles come by every 10-15 minutes or so. It goes up and down the rows of RVs. If you're walking and the shuttle approaches just wave and it will stop for you. It runs all day and night long.

We have been twice but camped with an Airstream group and were right down next to the field. It was amazing, something we will never forget. While there we did a lot of walking and bike riding around the grounds. There are many areas to park your trailer around the perimeter. We did notice that most of them had shuttle service. I would not plan on driving in. Like someone has already stated, it is a mess with people and cars.

Towed vehicles are a disaster. The monumental traffic jams we see here during Balloon Fiesta would cause you to rethink plans really fast. And even if you decided to leave at 4:00 am to get there, you'd find parking to be next to impossible.

The fiesta RV parking fields are all either within walking distance or shuttle distance. If your RV club is holding an event there, that'll be your best bet every time! The field for the clubs is literally feet from the launch fields.



Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2011

by

Lynn Eubank, on Flickr

:)
Lynn

pnichols wrote:
Can one camp close enough to the Fiesta action to walk to it, or do you have to have a toad to run between where you camp and it?

(We don't tow in our 24 foot RV, so must drive it everywhere when on trips.)

Can one camp close enough to the Fiesta action to walk to it, or do you have to have a toad to run between where you camp and it?

(We don't tow in our 24 foot RV, so must drive it everywhere when on trips.)

We have great memories of the time we were there. I don't think I've ever seen so many people smiling continuously all day. Have a great time.

It's first come first parked so getting there a bit early is better than a bit late. We are parked in the President's campground and we have 2 extra field passes for 9-10-11 if anyone needs them. Send me a PM. We were here on the 6th, had no reservation for the 7th and returned today for the next few days. So far things have been awesome. Even the other day when there was no launch, everyone inflated and the field was packed. Looking forward to some awesome weather the next few days.