We arrived back in Kansas late on September 30th. We had a strict deadline as we were headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the 2018 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and had reservations for October 4th. We stocked up on groceries, did laundry, and conducted our pre-trip inspection.
Trouble on the Plains
We left Emporia, Kansas, on October 2nd for the journey to New Mexico but we did not make it very far. The weather conditions that day was 90 degrees with gusts up to 45 miles per hour, not big rig friendly. We were galloping along Highway 50 approximately twenty miles outside of Emporia and had our front side windows open for cross ventilation when two eastbound semis passed us. The combination of the passing semis and wind gusts created a vortex inside our motorhome and pushed the front windshield out of the seal by one-half inch. I was able to safely slow the Grizzly down and limp it a quarter of a mile to a rest area. We have a two-piece windshield and the passenger side windshield was pushed out approximately one-quarter inch and the driver’s side was still in the seal but had move approximately one-quarter inch.
We detached the truck from the motorhome and Lana headed to Emporia to pick up some duct tape. While she was gone, Tracy had a spare tube of windshield caulk and applied it to the window. We duct taped the window up and we were on the road again, hoping the quick fix would get us to Albuquerque. We lost about three hours of drive time fixing the window and had planned to overnight in Guymon, Oklahoma, but we were exhausted by the time we made it to Pratt, Kansas. We found a Walmart Supercenter and stayed the night there.
The next day we barreled down the highway 526 miles to the American RV Resort in Albuquerque. The windshield held up well so we decided to press our luck and not get it replaced in Albuquerque. We dumped our black/gray tanks and filled the fresh water tank up for the 10-day dry-docking at the Balloon Fiesta.
RV Parking at Fiesta Park
The next day we rolled into the South RV Parking Lot at the Balloon Fiesta Park along with several thousand other RVers. We were very thankful we listened to our RV family and made our reservations one-year in advance.
South RV Parking Lot
RVers have five choices when it comes to parking your RV at the balloon fiesta:
STANDARD: $40.00 per night (dry camping) (South RV Lot)
BOX VIEW: $50.00 per night (dry camping) (South RV Lot)
PREMIUM: $95.00 per night (30Amp and water connection) (South RV Lot)
VIP West/East: $100.00 per night (dry camping, adjacent to the Launch Field with 2 general admission passes included valid during your stay.)
PRESIDENT’S COMPOUND :$250.00 per night (Sites on a bluff overlooking the Launch Field with city water pressure and 30-50 Amp RV Hook-up, this site also includes 4 general admission passes to the Launch Field valid during your stay.)
From its modest beginnings in 1972 with 13 balloons launching from a shopping mall parking lot, the Balloon Fiesta has grown to multiple events launching year-round at the custom-designed, 365-acre Balloon Fiesta Park. The signature event remains Balloon Fiesta—which, with 700 balloons, is the largest ballooning event on earth, the most photographed event on earth, and the largest annual international event held in the United States. Imagine 54 football fields, all put together. That’s the size of Balloon Fiesta Park’s 78-acre launch field!
Morning and Evening Sessions
The balloon fiesta is comprised of a morning session and evening session, each requiring their own event ticket. The morning sessions typically begin at 6:00am with the Dawn Patrol. The Dawn Patrol pilots take off in the dark and fly until it is light enough to see landing sites. Fellow balloonists appreciate the Dawn Patrol because they can watch the balloons and get an early idea of wind speeds and directions at different altitudes. The mass ascension of balloons typically follow the Dawn Patrol once the green flag is raised. Once the flight officials give the go ahead, mass ascension of balloons begin at 7:00am and the morning session is typically over in 1-2 hours.
Evening sessions begin at 6:00pm with balloon glows and fireworks shows. The evening sessions usually last until approximately 9:00pm to 10:00pm.
https://www.balloonfiesta.com/Event-Schedule
We were up at 4:00am the next morning, ate breakfast, and rode our bicycles down to the bike valet. If parking in the nearby RV lots, we highly recommend using bicycles as your mode of transportation to the launch field. Traffic getting into the park and out of the park is a disaster.
We arrived at approximately 5:00am and there were already several thousand people on the launch field. We eyed our spot on the launch field and waited for the Dawn Patrol to launch.
Dawn Patrol 
Mass Ascension
We met our good friends, Paul and Susan Roberson, who also full-time, at the balloon fiesta and spent the rest of the week with them. The week was full of balloons, biking, BBQ, games, a few road trips, and lots of laughs.
Sandia Park – Cibola National Forest 
Tinkertown – Sandia, New Mexico 
Nathan, Marissa, and Hensley with Less Junk More Journey
We were fortunate enough to serve on the chase crew for the Sky Star hot air balloon out of Belgium. We were honored to serve on the crew and were rewarded with Belgium chocolates at the conclusion of the recovery.
Chase crew
We put another check mark on our Bucket list and would encourage anyone who has thought of attending the Balloon Fiesta to make your reservations early and enjoy this wonderful experience.
