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Tropic Hut At Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
October 6-15, 2006, Albuquerque, NM--AIBF Home Page
This was our biggest event to date, and it exceeded every expectation!
VIDEOS
Special Shapes
This is what Balloon Fiesta is all about--a clear blue sky filled with magnificent balloons.
27.2 MB
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Final Morning
Balloon Fiesta Park is alive with activity every morning long before sunrise.
12 MB
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Lift Off!
Here's video of a hot air balloon as it lifts off from the AIBF Balloon Field.
7.3 MB
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Visiting Vendors
We met lots of great people at Balloon Fiesta.
Here's video of some fellow vendors.
28.5 MB
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On the road to AIBF--
I spotted this sign en route from Reno to Albuquerque and
LOL'd. This is the west end of Interstate 40, where
it meets I-15 in Barstow, CA. Some clever highway department
sign maker wanted drivers to know how far it is to the east
end of this highway, where I-40 reaches the east coast at
Wilmington, NC.
Hmmm, if I average around 60 miles an hour and don't stop
for sleep I could stay on this one Interstate for almost 43
straight hours!
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Check THIS out!
A couple weeks after I posted this page, a fellow
in North Carolina sent me this photo of the OTHER end of
Interstate 40. What fun! Thanks to Chris for sending me
this picture.
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The daybefore.
This is the Balloon Field viewed from the south end on Thursday,
October 5.
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Another picture from the south end of the Balloon Field, day before Fiesta starts.
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Here's the east side of Balloon Field on the day before Fiesta starts.
The row of tents on the left makes up "Main Street," where we vendors are lined up.
The Balloon Field is all quiet today,
but Main Street is buzzing with activity as vendors get ready for the big event!
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Looking south on Main street from in front of Tropic Hut,
day before Fiesta starts.
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Looking north on Main street from in front of Tropic Hut, day before Fiesta starts.
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There it is! It's the day before Balloon Fiesta begins and Tropic Hut
is all set up and ready for business.
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Here's what the crowds come to see; fantastic,
colorful hot air balloons filling a clear blue New Mexico sky.
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Meet Beth, the personality plus gal from
Plano Pins.
Beth loved our Java Silkies and traded us boat loads of pins for them!
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These charming fellows are Dave and Ed of NewMexico.org.
Their exhibitor stand, featuring a very impressive huge custom RV,
was situated directly across Main Street from the Tropic Hut stand.
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Dawn Patrol, final morning of Balloon Fiesta.
This balloon went up every morning, weather permitting,
before the sun even started to come up.
It was called the Dawn Patrol.
Its purpose was to check conditions and radio back to the ground about wind conditions for the other balloon pilots.
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Tropic Hut stand, last day of Balloon Fiesta.
It's 4:45 AM, it's cold and wet from a light rain that fell earlier,
and still the crowds are already starting to arrive - and they want coffee!
Right through the last day of the event I could not believe how many folks would start showing up so early.
Who are these people?
Maybe I'm just out of touch with so many early risers. I'm a night person.
But I was happy to join the morning scene for the spectacular Balloon Fiesta!
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