New Mexico and Albuquerque Balloon Festival, Oct. 2015
 

We are two women, in our sixties in good health, from Orlando who have a week to 10 days and want to see New Mexico and attend the Albuquerque Balloon Festival in October. The places that we thought could work in our time frame are Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Taos, White Sands and Santa Fe. We will be renting a car and would love to have help with the itinerary before we make our air reservations. We are planning on one day at the festival. Is that enough? Where else would you suggest we explore? We would appreciate any info on preferred sites, museums, tours, restaurants, etc.

There are lots of threads on here about the Balloon Fiesta if you do a search. Basic questions and replies to help you understand how it works. One thing I will emphasize is that only being here for one day is a mistake. The balloon only launch under perfect conditions and while the weather is usually beautiful in the day, early morning is quite another story. Winds will keep them from going up. It would be a shame to only plan one day here and have the launch cancelled. It does happen, often more than one day during the fiesta. I also recommend going on weekend. Yes, it will be more crowded, but it's the only days for mass ascension.

Here a few threads to start you off:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...t-its-like.cfm

This is a search result:
http://www.fodors.com/search/results...author=debitnm

As far as the rest of the trip - it's long drives down to Carlsbad and White Sands and then up to Santa Fe and Taos. I would head north first to take advantage of the warmer temps and then head south where it will be warmer later in the month.

What to do where? You need to do a bit of research for each area to find your interests.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-down-time.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...sta-in-abq.cfm

http://www.visitalbuquerque.org/
http://santafe.org/
http://taos.org/

If you want to include White Sands, plus have two days for the Balloon Fiesta, then I'd take at least ten days for this trip.

Lee Ann

The Balloon Fiesta is completely hit-or-miss. The participants launch either once or twice per day, depending on the schedule, and only early in the morning or near dusk. The heatwaves from the midday sun make navigation too difficult to launch at a decent hour for sleeping in.

Albuquerque is on a plateau with mountains not too distant to the west and northeast, so it gets plenty of wind careening around and if it blows more than 8 mph, the balloons don't launch. There's more to Albuquerque than the Fiesta, just don't throw pizza on Walter White's house.

White Sands is 3.5 hours south of Albuquerque; Carlsbad is 4.5 hours (minimum) southeast of it - it's far closer to El Paso. Santa Fe is 70 minutes north; Taos is 2.5 hours north. Don't underestimate how small Taos is - the most expansive view would be to say it is tiny. Tent Rocks is en route to Santa Fe from Albuquerque and worth a stop.

BigRuss - you know I love ya but you are a bit off in a few of your comments.

Balloons launch just after daybreak, that is correct. But they do not launch at dusk. What they do is called a "glow" and that is when the balloons are tethered and simply "burn" propane which makes the balloon light up from within and are pretty as they "glow"

ABQ is not a plateau, it is a valley and when the conditions are right, pilots get what is called the "Albuquerque box" which means than can remain aloft over the the valley going in a blox like pattern which keeps them from flying over restricted airspace, which surrounds ABQ on all sides. It makes flying a much better experience for the rider, easier for the pilot and makes for great viewing for spectators.

Western mountains i.e. Mt Taylor are too far away to impact the conditions.

Deb

I thought they had some dusk launches scheduled? What's this: http://www.balloonfiesta.com/gas-bal...ca-s-challenge

And I thought the mountains to the east and NE were a bit remote for a valley, but you're living in enchantmentville so I defer.

Ah, those are gas balloons; quite a different animal. They don't get many spectators and usually launch in the day. IF weather is bad, they go up whenever it clears. As these are in a long distance race, they are made to be flown 24 hours a day until they land.

Read the last 2 paragraph: http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/BEG/...ground_II.html

Thanks so much for the information. We have looked at a number of sites and had some general ideas and I always love to hear from individuals as well as from official sites. Would there be any sense in flying into Albuquerque and leaving from El Paso?

Check out El Paso flights; not many I am thinking and the price might make it not worthwhile.

<<Would there be any sense in flying into Albuquerque and leaving from El Paso?>>

Check if there will be a drop charge for the car if you rent from ABQ and return at El Paso.

There is Greyhound bus service from ABQ and ELP. The Zoo, Arboretum and Aquarium are connected at the west end of Albuquerque. Central Avenue is the old Rt. 66.

The BioPark (zoo, botanical gardens, and aquarium) are not at the west end of Albuquerque. The zoo is just east of downtown, and the other two are just west of Rio Grande Blvd. next to the river. There is a train that connects the zoo to the others.

Lee Ann