ABQ Balloon Fiesta IV -> Friends & Beer (Final Round Up)
As much as Balloon Fiesta was about ballooning, it was also (for me) about the the social contacts. Besides the bond of our crewing experience, we connected with a bunch of cool folks whom we either met or re-met at the Fiesta, both within our parked group and in others. There are all kind of “peeps” out here and whether you come as a single or with a caravan, you’ll be able to find your tribe without a problem. To say the entire thing was a social PAR-TAY would not be exaggerating.
Within the Boomers group there were a ton of excellent folk, many of whom we met at the Happy Hour (I didn’t write down names & blogs so if we met and/or you blogged about Fiesta FEEL FREE to link below in the comments so others can find you & read your impressions of the event).
Over at the Xscapers group (who were literally right down the way in the Standard Lot) there was a lovely ~20-rig convergence of cool folks & bloggers. Of course our dear friends Chris & Cherie (Technomadia) were there and Cherie, in her usual efficient manner, has already written several excellent posts both about the event itself and the dream & spirit of the Xscapers group. But we also met a bunch of other bloggers who we’ve either stalked or followed for a long time including (and I’m totally stealing this list from Cherie’s post) Drive Dive Devour, RV Outlawz, Finding Marshall, Rolling Recess, Thisawayz and Thatawayz, The Roaming Pint, Adventure-Next, The Kuhl Odyssey, Nosh Bus, Traveling Haywoods, Marxrv, Wander Wasi, RV Wanderlust, Rolling Under the Stars and Winnie Views. Both The Kuhl Odyssey who we met for the first time & Winnie Views who we “blog stalked” all thro’ Baja last winter already have posts up about Fiesta (click their links to read them).
- Turtle Mountain Brewing – These folks have a large brewery/restaurant just NW of ABQ in Rio Rancho. They carry a bunch of their own beers, plus typically a few guest taps. Quality was consistently good, but only the Okú Amber (rye) stood out for us. Food was also decent, but not outstanding. Outside patio IS dog-friendly. Click HERE for link.
- Bosque Brewing Company – These guys have a small & cozy tasting room walking distance from the Standard RV Lot (!!) and boast the top-winning IPA in the city. We found all their brews to be high quality and especially enjoyed their Scale Tipper & Acequia IPA’s (classic, hop-forward IPA’s), their Scotch Ale (very nice) and their Pumpkin Imperial Stout (a hefty stout with subtle pumpkin flavors).. The food menu was a very short list of standard pub fare, but ALL of it was good. I especially enjoyed their Green Chili Stew. NO outside patio and NOT dog-friendly. Click HERE for link.
So that’s it folks….finally! You will not see any more balloon pics from me, at least in the near future. For the next post I’m taking you out to the desert and a painted landscape that you wouldn’t believe actually exists in nature. See you there!
Thank you for the great blog posts. We hope to do this withing the next couple of years, so ALL the information is greatly appreciated.
Happy to hear that. I feel like I’ve kinda over-loaded my blog readers on this series, but hopefully it’s all useful in some way. I’m super impressed with everyone who’s read it all!
Nina
Please! I’m highly offended! (just kidding) Turtle Mountain Brewery is in Rio Rancho, NM. When we first moved here, there was actually two separate cities, but I can understand your confusion. It is all one big conglomeration. Actually, Corrales and Los Ranchos de Albuquerque are also between Albuquerque and Rio Rancho. There once were numerous balloon landing spots between Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, but now there are Sam’s Club, Costco, car dealers, and a huge mall, just to name a few. It has created some difficulties for balloonists when the wind heads them our way.
Hope to meet up someday when we get on our way. Until then, I am living and traveling with your posts.
Thanks for the wonderful pictures.
Indeed I stand corrected!! It’s a hop & a skip from actual ABQ & the Fiesta location (I think it took us under 20 mins to get there), but you are absolutely right that it IS a separate area. I’ve UPDATED the blog post with your correction 🙂 Cheers!
Nina
Well, gracious, Nina, I was away in Ireland while y’all were ballooning in ABQ. What a treat to get home and read so many wonderful stories about an event I have always wanted to experience. With all the information out there, maybe I’ll actually manage it someday. Especially since I do have good friends living in Albuquerque! Thanks for all the goodies (some I have yet to read of course, still trying to catch up on my Ireland blogs!)
Hi Nina, it was nice to finally meet you, although it was brief, I think I managed to tell you that I’m a big fan of your photos! and thank you for the add! 😀
Hope to cross paths again!
Veronica and Denny
It was GREAT to meet you too! Wish we had more individual time to spend w/ everyone, but I’m just happy we got to finally meet face-to-face.
Nina
Nice to read the round up….can never have too much about this awesome event IMO…..It was great to hook up with the two of you and to finally meet Armondo and Ana and get to know Cherie and Chris a bit better..….until the next time…somewhere down the road… In the mean time I will just have to follow you on your blog..
So happy we got to spend this time together Jil! It was great to crew w/ you both too!
Nina
I loved your blogs on the Balloon Festival, thank you so much for all the effort you put into writing about it and all the pictures your shared!
So much fun!! Okay, you’ve convinced me. Or I should say enticed me. We must return to the Balloon Fiesta, this time to stay on the grounds and crew. 🙂
Two Thumbs Up, Nina!
I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts and all of the photos. Love the Keystone Cop balloon!
These posts were perfect Nina. Loved every word and every picture. Never too many. I am totally willing to happily read all the posts you want to put out there. Thanks again!
The Balloon Fiesta has been on my bucket list for many years and I’ve enjoyed ALL of the information you’ve shared with us! I never thought about the possibility of crewing and now I think I’ll have to give it a go.
I’ve been to ABQ a few times traveling through on my way from our home in central CA to our son’s home (at the time) in OKC. I’ve only spent the night there but I hope to get there again and spend more time exploring the area.
I loved ALL of your photos, especially the ones with so many balloons in the air 🙂
Thanks for this wonderful series of posts, Nina, and for sharing your amazing photos. I don’t think I’ve seen any better ones online anywhere. How can one little person have so much talent for so many things?!
Last year we attended the Balloon Fiesta, but never quite as close as you. We rented an airbnb room in ABQ and rode our bikes over close to the launch field most mornings (weather permitting). We never got there early enough to see the dawn glow, which I now understand was a major mistake, but we surely enjoyed seeing as many balloons as possible. We got some decent photos, but nothing like yours.
I enjoyed learning more about crewing; I think I’d like to do that one day! So thanks again, and for me, your posts were not too much at all. They were just right. 🙂 Thank you again!
thanks for all the great info on the balloon fiesta!! It sounds and looks like you guys had a super time there. Another experience to add to our ever evolving and expanding list….love it!!
It sounds like you found people as diverse, colorful and plentiful as the balloons – definitely a bonus for the event! I wondered if you were able to get back and forth to town at all with all the traffic, so I’m glad to see you found a couple breweries to visit 🙂
Will now be on my bucket list. Awesome pics.
Thank you
I have a question about the most reliable phone service. I have seen Verizon’s website and it looks spotty. In your opinion is Verizon a good bet for a full time rver?
YES. Verizon has by far the best nationwide coverage. ATT comes in a close second and the rest of the providers are much further behind. For the first 3 years of RVing we only had Verizon and we had coverage 95% of the places we went. Now we travel w/ a mix of ATT & Verizon.
You can compare coverage maps by downloading the Coverage? App. That’ll give you a good overview.
Nina
My office is right next to the balloon park. Makes travel in and out interesting, but leaves Bosque Brew as a great place to unwind after work. Glad to see others finding the ABQ brew pubs. We have a LOT of great places to have a pint with friends.
Nice. If my office were right next door that would definitely be my “local” spot. I was very impressed w/ the beers in ABQ. Wish we’d had more time to explore the other breweries in the area, but that just gives us a good reason to come back.
Nina