It's That Time Again!

Well I am planning on coming down to Dallas in a couple of Saturdays or so to eat and drink at Souk over by the white cable bridge and IT IS ONLY POLITE TO LET ME COME BY AND SEE YOU OR SOMETHING!

Okay, when you hit Rte 1o, take a left and stop when you git to Jacksonville. Do you like your hot dogs with ketchup or mustard?

Here's what it looks like to me:

!. Friday Oct 6- sight seeing in Old Town Albuquerque...group dinner
2.Saturday-Ballooon Fest
3. Sunday- Leshnover's have Balloon Riding tickets at dawn/Balloon Fest
4.Monday- Sante Fe or other cool sight-seeing
5. Tuesday-farewell breakfast/brunch? and on the Road

How's that sound? Banjo, do you think I should buy my families tickets online now...or get them at the door? Do they ever completely sell out? I'm worried about being late to the Balloon ride because their rules seem strict and there is no accomodation for late-comers. But buying at the door gives more flexability if plans change. Advice from the pro?

Church Street Cafe and El Pinto! :)

Berry wrote:Here's what it looks like to me:

!. Friday Oct 6- sight seeing in Old Town Albuquerque...group dinner
2.Saturday-Ballooon Fest
3. Sunday- Leshnover's have Balloon Riding tickets at dawn/Balloon Fest
4.Monday- Sante Fe or other cool sight-seeing
5. Tuesday-farewell breakfast/brunch? and on the Road

How's that sound? Banjo, do you think I should buy my families tickets online now...or get them at the door? Do they ever completely sell out? I'm worried about being late to the Balloon ride because their rules seem strict and there is no accomodation for late-comers. But buying at the door gives more flexability if plans change. Advice from the pro?

Buy the tickets now !  I don't know if they ever sell out but having them on hand already is better than dealing with the lines, in the dark, that morning.

So you want to go to the Balloon Fest twice ? That's your decision of course but there are other unique things to see that aren't anywhere else, but they can be visited later in the day, on Saturday.....just sayin'.....

RC Hurry wrote:Church Street Cafe and El Pinto! :)

Both Papa Felipes and El Patron are superior to El Pinto,  but El Pinto is where the celebrities/actors go when they come to town because they have been lead to believe that it's the place to go to see and be seen, which may be true, but if they want the actual best Mexican food....no.

Also, Monroe's ......almost forgot.

Atmosphere, Banjo...Atmosphere :).

Atmosphere is free, so why do they charge you for it.

That's pretty neat ! I don't remember seeing it at the first convention unless you hid it because you were afraid that the Sirens would appropriate it....

I stayed an extra day and picked up some odds and ends, lol. tried to buy that alien ship out east of town in Tatum, I think, that that metalworker made but he wouldn't come down. I came back years later, just a couple ago as a matter of fact and he had sold it to the business across from the Museum where it currently resides on the roof, dangit! :)

Hmmm....i didn't know it was across the st. from the museum. The one that was on the museum itself was stolen a year ago. They got it back, damaged, had to make a new one.

http://krqe.com/2016/03/22/flying-saucer-stolen-from-roswells-ufo-museum/

What is an address for the Balloon Fest location that I can use to map it. The site's map cannot be downloaded. I have my hotel's address but what then?? I want to go in to Gate 9 (North)

Take a look at this: click on the Google maps link and you can scroll around and see all the relevant locations.

http://www.balloonfiesta.com/operations/contact-us

Gate 9 is the furthest north access gate.  Where your hotel is, is on the south bound (one way) frontage rd. of I-25. During the Fiesta they route all balloon traffic north on I-25 to the Tramway/Roy rd. exit, then west under I-25 to the south bound frontage rd. then south down to Balloon Fiesta Parkway , then west directly down to gate 9. That's the only way the general public can get in. There are other VIP and supply entrances down off of Alameda, Bl. but Alameda is closed to through traffic on weekends.

To go north from your hotel there are two possibilities. (Stay with me, this gets complicated. ) Go west on the hotel parking lot to Jefferson Bl., which runs right along the west side of the parking lot. Go north on Jefferson, stay in right lane,  to the entrance to Paseo del Norte Bl.  Take P del N over I-25 to the on ramp to I-25 north. At that point you will merge with all the balloon traffic coming from the south. How feasible all that is, I can't say, never having a need to try it during the Fiesta, have done it in 'normal' days. There will be heavy traffic coming from the west side and P del N is the only direct route from there on the north side of town.

The second 'route' and the one that is probably better is to go south on  the frontage road from the hotel to the first stop light, Ellison rd., just a short distance south. Turn east on Ellison, go under I-25, turn north on the north bound frontage rd, and merge with  balloon traffic as above.

After getting on I-25 N. just 'follow the crowd' and they will exit you at Tramway/Roy and direct around to the Balloon Fiesta Parkway.

It sounds convoluted but they have found that this is the best way to route the heavy traffic in the mornings during the mass ascensions. Believe me, I have lived through all the earlier 'methods' and this is the best one.  There was one time, years ago, when I had to get out of the car and bodily throw the street barricades into the vacant lot just so I could get into my street ! They have now gotten "their heads out of......" and local residents now have special passes that let us get past road blocks...see below....

Residents and businesses in this area all given special passes that allow us to get in/out and get around the road blocks. I can give you one, have a spare, but it wouldn't help you get into the balloon park, it's only for local areas where Alameda and Jefferson are blocked off in the mornings.

Hope this helps, and I imagine that hotel staff can provide good help .....they go through this every year.

I used that Google map function to show the route from your hotel but it doesn't show the correct one. You could go the route it shows when the Fiesta isn't on, but that's hardly any help.

I'm so glad that you went ahead with planning and went to the Balloon Fest! I remain for ever Pollyanna-ish in everything. So many things going on with Craig and with the whole family. I'll try to update within the next day or so. In the meantime, It does my heart good to know that people still think enough of this site to post regularly. Your friendship means more than words can say.