Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta National Rally 2014

[polarlyse]

4 Days without a shower ???? Not sure if I could do that. Haven't needed to since my days in Vietnam. Hopefully in my AS I won't have to. BUT, that said, I could still manage if need be.

[tsunami]

Originally Posted by Ken J

I keep hoping this generator topic on this thread would cease and die - but since it won't I will add the comments of the organizers - the balloon fiesta is not by any means a quiet event - there are generators, flying airplanes - helicopters with search lights at night - flood lights that come on at 4am that have their own loud generators, fireworks, garbage trucks at 3am, balloon swooshing overhead, mounted rangers on horses walking the rally site in the middle of the night, dogs barking, loud parties, people playing musical instruments, someone blasting the song up up and away over loudspeakers (ok I admit to that one ) on and on - in short everyone having a great time - we have over 400 attendees at our event and over 100,000 attending the event on the field each morning - it is an incredible experience that only those who have attended know about - I am very sorry that some feel they have to leave or will never attend a large rally again, from the feedback we get I would say 99.99999% of those who have attended this great event absolutely love the magical experience of the 500+ balloons in all shapes sizes and colors and plan to come back again - so given all of this I would appreciate it if we could get back to taking about the incredible time we had, sharing pictures and talking about how we can't wait to do it all over again next year -

Ken J

For me and my wife, best ever event that we have attended. Thanks to everyone who worked so diligently to make this happen. I hope to be able to attend again next year and meet new and old friend. Thanks everyone.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by cptfish

We totally agree. Our time was marred by someone running a construction generator all day from their van with their van back doors open. It was so loud that we ate a couple aisles down. I must compliment them though because when someone complained they turned it off and then only occasionally ran a smaller quieter one that they must have borrowed. I don't think people realize how the sound travels.


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Not sure if you are talking about me, since I ran a non Honda generator out of the back of my van for 1 hour and 15 minutes on Saturday afternoon around 3 pm, until someone turned me in to the organizers who made me shut it down. A kind neighbor and friend loaned me his Honda which charged my batteries for about an hour and then froze.
I barely had enough juice in my batteries to raise my electric jacks and get hitched up early Monday morning.
Why that person did not come to me directly or why they singled me out, is beyond me. The noise and the fumes were terrible coming from the big Rigs parked right in the middle of us, running their big Generators and/or engines all day.
Thank you, kind Airstream fellow for turning me in!!
Otherwise a fantastic event, Thank you Ken and all the volunteers!

[tsunami]

More to follow. Took over 2000 photo at this event. Enjoy

[Thalweg]

Originally Posted by tsunami

More to follow. Took over 2000 photo at this event. Enjoy

Hey, fourth photo down is my trailer. Thanks for posting it, as it is better than any photo I took of it. I'm going to save a copy to my photo library if you don't mind.

We made it back home today after two hard days of driving. What a wonderful event. Thank you Ken and crew for all your hard work. It truly exceeded everything we could have imagined just as Ken said. We met some great people, and had some wonderful neighbors, Someday59, and Oilcan (I think that was their handle). I wish I could have met more of you, but wow, there were a lot of people.

Now to sort through a lot of photos, a truly daunting task.

[cptfish]

No Peter H, I was not talking about you as this sounds like a different situation. It was a couple who ran it ALL day Friday and Saturday and not just an hour or two. A couple of guys down from them went to their spot and personally asked them to turn it off during a group dinner and they seemed to do it no problem. I am sorry about your charging problem as we turned ours on for one hour Sunday and when we left the next morning we had no power to get water to run in sink or bath! Guess we needed to run it longer. We do try to keep the use down though.
We had a great time the whole weekend and certainly want to go again. Met wonderful people and made new friends so this was a minor part of the Fiesta. Hope you had a great time too!


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[tsunami]

Originally Posted by Thalweg

Hey, fourth photo down is my trailer. Thanks for posting it, as it is better than any photo I took of it. I'm going to save a copy to my photo library if you don't mind.

We made it back home today after two hard days of driving. What a wonderful event. Thank you Ken and crew for all your hard work. It truly exceeded everything we could have imagined just as Ken said. We met some great people, and had some wonderful neighbors, Someday59, and Oilcan (I think that was their handle). I wish I could have met more of you, but wow, there were a lot of people.

Now to sort through a lot of photos, a truly daunting task.

I don't mind at all. Glad you enjoyed the pic of your AS. Thanks

[Ken J]

Wow - nice pictures !!! I think your going to be busy sorting through some really great pictures for a while !

Ken J


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[lewster]

It was really nice to finally put some faces on the Forum names that I have become so familiar with. It was also great to be back at another great Balloon Fiesta rally after a 2 year hiatus due to scheduling problems.

As that famous ex-California Governor once said.......I"LL BE BAAAAACK!

[weirdstuff]

An awesome time was had by Mr & Mrs Weirdstuff!

I'll post pics next week.

Sorry about lack of jello shots. I had all ingredients but couldn't pull together a refrigeration solution.

Nancy & Mark

[lewster]

Originally Posted by weirdstuff

An awesome time was had by Mr & Mrs Weirdstuff!

I'll post pics next week.

Sorry about lack of jello shots. I had all ingredients but couldn't pull together a refrigeration solution.

Nancy & Mark

Nancy, you shouldn't have brought it up....I completely forgot about them.....until NOW!!!!!

Maybe next year..........

[Ken J]

Nancy - thanks for doing the dog parade - what a great idea ! It will be a permanent part of balloon fiesta !


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[silverlabs]

We thoroughly enjoyed the weekend! We knew no one when we arrived on Friday morning but by Friday evening we had made great friends. We are so very thankful to everyone for helping us with our challenges and making us feel like one of the group. Can't wait to go back! (Is there a 12 step program for rally withdrawal?)

[tsunami]

Thought this turned out pretty interesting. Enjoy this short clip.

[steverino]

Today I was invited to ride on "Whirlaway", the balloon for which Cindy and I chased this week. Here's some pictures from the flight....

As we launched early in the first wave, we were treated to the sight of hundreds of balloons bubbling up off the field.





We landed in a field just past the RV parking on the other side of the highway. As we were stowing Whirlaway, Darth Vader landed just behind us.



And - just a couple more shots I thought were fun - solar eclipses by balloon. The first one from Saturday, and the second from today's competition.

[Arcticfox]

Very nice photos everyone - well done!

I just wanted to drop in and thank everyone for making us feel welcome. The whole event was superb and a BIG thank you needs to go out to Ken and his crew for the tremendous job they did!

We were is a section that did not have a generator issue at all that I knew of. Even throw we had people running them, they were always most considerate of others. Our only problem was to many people having to much fun.... WHAT A SUPURB EVENT!!

Here's a few images I hope someone will enjoy......

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The Master himself.......












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[cptfish]

Wow! Love your photos and Darth Vader too! Congratulations on riding up in the balloon and thanks for sharing awesome photos!


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[Landshark]

Have to post: what a fabulous, fantastic, gorgeous, totally surreal and unbelievably wonderful event! We'll be back next year for sure--between the Vintage Trailer Academy and Balloon Fiesta, ALBQ is our destination of choice!

We met great Airstreamers, had a superb time, and we have to thank Ken and his crew for excellent organization.

Overall: WOW!!

[okiedebi]

Yes Ken, we so agree with you! We loved our first Balloon Fiesta rally, it was magical being down on the field looking up at the balloons and then again just watching them fly overhead from our trailer! Where else could you do this? It was fantastic and we will enjoy our memories of it and the hundreds of pictures I took for years to come. Thank-you Ken and company for your hard work in organizing and beautifully pulling off such an undertaking!! We would love to come again, maybe for the 10th anniversary. We so enjoyed meeting all our great neighbors and had something in common with everyone. Thanks to all of you as well! Debi and Jim from Edmond OK


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[azflycaster]

Originally Posted by tsunami

More to follow. Took over 2000 photo at this event. Enjoy

The 3rd one is mine, thanks for posting...