Last year, my family and I decided this year’s vacation would be to Albuquerque, NM for the International Balloon Festival in October.
I had seen a myriad of colorful balloons in pictures, and we wanted to see it in person.
Since Albuquerque has an arid climate, my first thought was that we dressed for summer temperatures. We lived about 300 miles southeast of Albuquerque, NM and thought their climate would be the same as ours. We all packed shorts and t-shirts, and the girls wore their flip-flops. I didn’t expect it to be in the sixties and low seventies. When we got to Albuquerque, NM, we checked into a hotel. Without humidity, the cooler temperatures felt even colder. We sat in the hotel for the first day because they had an excellent heating system. We found some lovely restaurants in the hotel, so we didn’t need to go outside. By the third day, the temperatures were in the mid-seventies and we no longer needed to hide out where there was heat. There were hundreds of colorful balloons in the sky, and a carnival atmosphere in the air. A part of me wished they held the International Balloon Festival in the spring, where we didn’t need to worry about HVAC, but we still loved the festivities. The balloon festival in Albuquerque was our favorite vacation, and we’ll probably be returning. I can’t imagine any other vacation spot being as wonderful as Albuquerque, NM. Not only did we have the International Balloon Festival to entertain us, but we had the mountains to climb, and the desert to hike. Our shorts came in handy for the desert.