Day 28 – Balloons and Aliens

Balloons Over Our Hampton Inn

This is Balloon Fiesta week in Albuquerque where they have daily launches of a large number of hot air balloons. It is a very famous festival and people come from all over the world to see the balloons. Unfortunately it wasn’t a Mass Ascension Day, which sounds vaguely religious but in fact it means that all balloons are launched at the same time. 

Two Balloons in Kohl's Parking Lot

Today they launched a smaller number of balloons, individually over about a half hour. The good news for us is that the wind was blowing perfectly and the balloons flew right over our hotel. It was an amazing sight and we even did some balloon chasing to see where they would land. We found two which came down safely in a Kohl's parking lot. Impromptu landings are a normal event.

Flying Sauce McDonald's

We left Albuquerque and headed south to Carlsbad, NM. Along the way we skirted the White Sands National Monument to the north, passed through the Lincoln National Forest where the living symbol of Smokey Bear, an American black bear cub, was rescued in 1950 from a fire. We arrived in Roswell, NM, in time for lunch and we had to eat at their McDonald's which features a flying saucer room.

Jeanne With Aliens

Of course when you are in Roswell, you have to visit the UFO Museum. In case you aren’t familiar with Roswell, a flying saucer supposedly crashed there in July of 1947 and the bodies of three aliens were recovered. It made national headlines for a week and then was followed by a government denial (it was a weather balloon) and charges of a cover-up for more than 50 years. The museum was packed with what seemed like believers but even after a mostly laughable 45-minute video, we are still skeptical. In any case, it was a mandatory stop.