Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

On the weekend of 5-7 October 2001, Elaine and I traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico to see the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Nearly 700 balloons simultaneously floated through the desert sky. Thanks to the unique air circulation patterns above the Rio Grande valley, the balloons were able to float northward at upper levels and southward at lower levels, allowing them to land in the same field where they lifted off. For some more photos of our trip and the balloon festival, see Elaine's web page.

Since the balloon festival took place in the early morning, we decided to explore New Mexico for the rest of the day. We crossed the Rio Grande and stopped at Petroglyph National Monument where we discovered thousands of prehistoric Native American and Hispanic petroglyphs, which are images carved into rock.

Later that day, we drove into Northern New Mexico and stopped at Bandelier National Monument in Frijoles Canyon, south of Los Alamos. There we found ancient cliff dwellings and spectacular scenery. We made a quick stop in front of the Los Alamos National Laboratory sign before having a delicious meal at a Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe.

On the way back to Oklahoma, we took a detour to the summit of Sandia Crest, which overlooks Albuquerque from 10,678 feet. I have another photo from Sandia Crest taken in the winter on my nature photographs page.

Back to Christopher's Photographs
Revised: December 11, 2001

OU Home | Disclaimer | Copyright | Equal Opportunity | OU Web Policy