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Zion Canyon Balloon loop – Part 5

Posted on 2023-10-112024-09-17 by Elle L

Day 16 – Chama to Santa Fe NM

After our pretty little drive, we were looking forward to Santa Fe….and then we had to drive right through it.

This campground is on the other end of the world. We didn’t have a lot of choices, but this one sucks. First, both the map and it’s scale are wrong. Second, there aren’t any full hookups. Luckily, we are here for a short enough time to alleviate that. Third, their most active staff member smokes, but he has to leave property to do it, but somehow, there is a set of matching cigarette butts in our spot…something I’m sure we’ll get blamed for. Fourth, they have let the small trees grow in, but they haven’t kept them trimmed; we had to cut a few branches to get in and out of our rig. So, if you want to come to Balloon Fiesta, stay in Albuquerque or on the south/west side of Santa Fe. Oh, and Santa Fe itself has had next to zero city planning, so driving through town is pretty bad, even late at night when everything is closed and there is no Fiesta traffic milling about. They also seem to have outlawed scooters, so there aren’t options to move people without cars. We did hear that the train from Santa Fe to ABQ is quite nice, but we don’t know where it is in either city.

Meow Wolf

Turns out, the evening of our arrival was adult night at Meow Wolf. We were able to take drinks into the space and there were no children, no strollers, no shriekers, etc. It was lovely. We don’t have very many pictures because we were experiencing it more. It’s a must do!

Day 17 – Canyon Road, a state park

We started off with a walk down some of Canyon Road. It’s a strip of galleries and we saw some lovely works of art. Unfortunately, the ones I wanted were all not the right fit for our space; there were several gorgeous outdoor pieces that need a garden for them to really shine.

After a break, we drove up to Hyde Memorial State Park. It’s a gorgeous area with 2-3 campgrounds. Atop the mountain is Ski Santa Fe.

Day 18 – Balloon Fiesta

After a leisurely morning with some Dutch Baby, we whittled our life down to our pockets and headed for Albuquerque. We had to buy our tickets for the event and the shuttle months ago. Then, we learned that the shuttles are awful. eeeek. The shuttle parking is horrifically unlabeled. The schools busses are a tight fit for adults. The driver subjected us to some kind of Country Jesus Amen garbage music instead of the radio station that was a sponsor of the event.

Despite our best efforts, we were wholly unprepared for this event. So, the first hour was kinda brutally boring. But, the drinks (Thank you Jameson & XX!), and the jazzy band, new friends, and amazing sites made up for that crappy first hour. Not surprisingly, getting back to the shuttle was awfully difficult. And surprisingly, the shuttle back was efficient and easy.

the skydivers were great under both sun (with streamers and banners) and stars (with LED suits)
this band! this keyboard player! wow!
continuous burn
flicker burn
another flicker burn…one of the last.

Day 19 – Sunday Funday

Despite strong efforts on all sides, we weren’t able to hang out again with any of our new friends. But we did find a great bar with yummy food in old downtown for the Broncos game. Then, we walked around that area and went into a few shops. We bought a gorgeous lamp!

After that, we drove to a Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the night game. We weren’t really hungry, but didn’t want to be stuck hungry after everything closed, so we picked a couple of small items off the menu. I’m happy to say that while BW3 is still not wonderful, it has improved greatly since the last time we were at one. Some of the cheap changes are being phased out. That’s a win; I predicted their demise after that last “rebranding” effort.

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← Zion Canyon Balloon loop – Part 4
Zion Canyon Balloon loop – Part 6/end →

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