Balloon Fiesta, Post 1: RV Park

This is the first of what will be several balloon fiesta blog posts I’ve slowly been working on since the fiesta a couple of weeks ago. 

The fiesta lasts for 2 weeks and there are a variety of activities, but the two main events are balloon glows in the evenings, and mass ascensions at dawn.

In all the years I’ve lived in New Mexico, I’ve only gone to the balloon fiesta once before. That’s mainly because I don’t have the constitution for it. Thousands and thousands of tourists descend upon our middle-of-nowhere state.

The combination of pre-dawn dark, cold, utter gridlock traffic, ineffective, inefficient shuttle busses, hundreds of well-meaning but clueless volunteers in reflector gear, every cop in the entire state, dazed and grumpy tourists, hydrocarbon fumes (if you like torch flames, wait until you see my videos), and coffee-fueled hourly trips to the porta-potties can become overwhelming for me.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have sensory integration disorder, which means sounds, lights, smells, movement and general confusion is vastly more confusing for me than for most other people. So my nerves can get frazzled, even though I really love community events.

Last year a friend of ours gave us a fantastic idea. They suggested that even though we are locals, we should rent an RV spot for our camper van at the fiesta, to avoid driving (or shuttle bussing) in and out. There’s acres and acres of RV parking adjacent to the fiesta grounds.

It’s rather awful as far as RV accommodations go. The VIP lot is black-top, but they are crammed in like sardines, with nothing but a largish parking space and (for a lot of money) hook-up lines if you need them. The “standard” lot is endless rows of dirt and gravel, equally dense with RV’s, generator noise and fumes, peppered occasionally with porta-potties and dumpsters, and truly dismal. I couldn’t get up high enough to get a good photo – just imagine acres and acres of this…

But the idea of being within walking distance of the fiesta was tempting.

Reservations for RV slots sell out almost immediately for the following year. So last year, we made a reservation for this year. You can’t reserve a specific site, but you can reserve a general area. John did an excellent job reserving a section of the RV park that was way out on the edge, about as far from the fiesta as possible (I know that sounds like I’m being sarcastic, but for us that’s a good thing). Plus he went in early with the van to secure a good spot. (I came came down from Santa Fe, later in the afternoon with the truck).

I know this probably doesn’t look like a premiere RV slot, but you have no idea. John won the lottery on this one. This is one of the best spots out of thousands. Look, an entire empty field behind us! Way to go John!

Probably one of the worst views we’ve ever had out the van; but at the same time, one of the very best spots in the entire area.

And wait till you see the photos in the next posts! It was worth it!

When they opened on-line reservations on Tuesday at 9:00 AM, we made reservations for next year!

Next up: Balloon Glow