Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Part 2

Got up this morning even earlier.  We were on the road by 4:00 a.m.  I can't believe it!  And we weren't the first ones there!  Lots of other people were there.  We found a picnic table, got a breakfast burrito ( it was spicy,  but good), coffee/hot chocolate and waited until 5:30 to take my camera in.  I picked it back up at 6:00 a.m.  They cleaned the camera and lens, replaced a lens cap that I had lost somewhere, and replaced the eye cup and all at no charge.  The Dawn Patrol Show began.  Dawn Patrol is when six balloons fire up and fill up their balloons and take up before the sun comes up.  Everyone crowds around the balloons, cheering when the first one goes up and each one which follows.  The Balloon Fest has officially began for the day.  Then all other balloons begin to fire up and inflate and get in the air.  We get to walk among the balloons as all this happens.  This morning the crowd was very large.  The weather is not suppose to be good for balloons this weekend, and I think people wanted to be at the fest for one more good day.  It was a great day, hardly any clouds and no wind at all.

First firing of the morning.

Still dark, but balloons firing up their balloons.

Inflating a hot air balloon takes several people and time.  

Morning is breaking and crews are laying out their balloons.

We loved seeing the shape balloons.

Policemen on horses help with crowd control as the balloons begin the competition.  There will poles around the open field.  The balloons who fly as close to the pole as they could and try to toss large rings over the poles.  They also threw bean baps at spots on the ground.  

These people are called "zebras."  Their job is to be the ground boss of the balloons.  All of them wear striped shirts and white pants (like referees) but each one accessorizes with their own quirky things.  It takes two years of training to be a "zebra."