In only a few minutes, the colorful balloons were fully inflated and sent into the sky, row by row, by event officials. The balloons came in all shapes and sizes, and we had fun picking out our favorites. There was one shaped like a cow, a huge chile ristra, a frog, a grocery bag and a tequila bottle. They slowly floated south, gradually gaining altitude. As they rose, they hit another wind current, which drove them back north, allowing the balloons to pass back over the grounds.
Lower winds come out of the north and higher winds come out of the south.
This is responsible for making the area one of the best ballooning sites in the world. When we'd first decided to travel to northern New Mexico about a month before, I'd mistakenly figured it was the off-season. The rental agent told me I was lucky to get a car at all. We stayed in Santa Fe, about an hour north of Albuquerque, where we had little trouble booking a room at the Fort Marcy complex just north of downtown. This year's Fiesta is the 29th, and it promises to be bigger than ever.