Our final full day in New Mexico began with an even earlier wake-up time than the rest of the vacation. We awoke at 5 am and made the 45 minute drive from Santa Fe to Albuquerque for the Mass Ascension at the Balloon Fiesta. We arrived shortly before the 7 am lift-off. Thankfully, we had the foresight of buying tickets a few days before so we were able to bypass the enormous line that formed near the entrance to the field.
The Balloon Fiesta Mass Ascension featured about 500 hot air balloons which rose within 90 minutes of each other. Balloons featured included several shapes, sizes, and colors. Some of the many photo highlights are below: 
The owl balloon surveys the situation (above) 
Darth Vader lifting off into the rising sun (above) 
The balloon family were separate balloons that inflated and lifted off together. They were a crowd favorite.
After getting our fill of the hot air balloons, we grabbed some Starbucks on our way to the Sandia Peak Tramway. We arrived at the base of the mountain only to find a sign saying the wait from this point was 1.5 hours. Even though riding the longest tram in the world was appealing, we decided not to waste a good portion of our last day standing in line. The view from the base of the lift was pretty good anyways, and the Sandia mountain range didn’t offer the tree-lined scenery we got in Santa Fe.
After finding our way out of the tramway area, we decided to head to the Petroglyph National Monument. Petroglyphs are rock carvings depicting different aspects of Indian life in the area. Many were carved around the 1300s.
With the early start to the morning, we were worn down by shortly after lunch. We checked into the hotel a little early and relaxed, cleaned up, watched college football, and tracked Kona for a while before heading out for the evening.
Our last night was spent in the Nob Hill area, a trendy bar and restaurant district that’s a few blocks long, near the University of New Mexico. It was pretty crowded with college students, so had a good energy, probably also helped by the New Mexico vs NM State rivalry game being played. After dinner we returned to the hotel to get things together in preparation for our morning flights back to the Midwest.
With that, our mini-vacation has come to a close. Back to the real world of school and work again tomorrow. However, to close out the trip report, I leave you with a short video of the balloon filled sky at the 2010 Balloon Fiesta shot, along with everything else, by Susan.
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