Since we didn't get to see the mass ascension yesterday, we got up early in hopes that we could catch it today.
We already had tickets to go to the festival grounds later this evening for the Glow so we didn't want to go right down there but we figured there must be plenty of places around town that we would be able to watch it from.
My Honey did a google search and it suggested a park in a residential area so that is where we headed.
Lots of other people were parked there too already so we figured it would be a good spot.
Sure enough, as soon as the sun started rising, so did the balloons.
We saw 1, then 2, then 5, then 9 etc...
Until pretty soon there were too many to count.
It ended up being a great spot because quite a few of the balloons came right to the park/field that we were by.
A couple even landed right there which was pretty cool to see.
They have 'chaser' crews that drive to where ever the balloon lands to pick it up.
They were there within minutes of the balloon landing (that's all of them in the pink and yellow shirts back there).
Another one landed.
Just look at them all - what a pretty sight to see.
They didn't pack this one up, instead it took off again.
Looks like another one coming in for a landing.
We were kind of in awe.
I remember seeing this one yesterday.
The balloon chaser crew heading out.
There was a traffic circle and they did a few laps around it.
They were hooting and hollering and just having a grand old time.
Saw this one yesterday too.
Even if I saw this sight every day, I don't think I'd ever get tired of it.
The pictures just don't do it justice.
More heading our way.
It was tough to get a shot with the balloons behind us, they just look like little dots, but they are there.
So many of them.
I think around 600 were going to be at the balloon festival - I wonder if all 600 went up?
Everyone else was just as much in awe as we were.
Look at all the cars of people parked there just to watch.
And that's just this park, imagine all the other parks around the city.
The one on the left was a different shape, more oblong than round.
They just kept coming and coming.
We decided to go for a walk in the residential area towards the balloons.
It was a really nice residential area, very clean and tidy.
Everything was serious spic and span.
See the one shaped like the Jesus statue on the mountain in Brazil?
Emoji balloon.
Captain America balloon.
There's that odd shaped one again.
This one looked like a bull.
So many different patterns.
Another odd shaped one.
Such pretty colors.
Just wow!
I really love the colors on this one.
It's amazing how they are just right above the homes.
Peaking out all over the place.
These ones were coming right at us, we got to see them go right over top of us.
It was so cool how they were right over the street and the homes.
It was so crazy, they were right above our heads.
Up real close and personal.
The baskets look so tiny when they are way up in the air
But when you get up close, you can see that they are actually quite large and can hold several people.
You just want to take so many pictures to capture the beauty of it all.
New Mexico balloon.
Route 66 balloon.
Some had drawings instead of colored patterns.
One of the Rainbow Ryders.
Looks like that truck is going to drive right into that one.
We started heading back toward the park.
A few more had landed there while we were on our walk.
Looks like a wolf peeking over the roof.
Lion.
There - actually got a good shot of a balloon in behind us.
I liked that orange colored one with Jack on it - the color was pretty.
The Rainbow Ryder twins came in and made a landing.
It's even fascinating to watch them be deflated (kind of sad too).
They'd come in, land, get packed up then more would come and land in their place.
Mass ascension would have been nice to see from the take off perspective, but it was nice to watch from this perspective too.
We watched one last one coming in for a landing.
Pretty smooth landing.
Sometimes spectators go over to help hold down the baskets.
Made it - safe, smooth landing.
There's the fuel guy.
It had been a few hours by this point and look how many of them were still up in the air.
We could have stood and watched all day but we hadn't had any breakfast or even a coffee and we were starting to get hungry by this time.
So we googled places nearby for breakfast/coffee and found a place close enough to walk to.
Vic's Daily Cafe.
They told us it would be about a 20 minute but hey, we are on vacation and we have nowhere to be so we waited.
We heard a few folks around us say that it was worth the wait so that solidified our decision.
Their daily specials.
I really wanted to try the green chili cheddar biscuit.
Probably right about the 20 minute mark, they seated us.
They had a huge menu.
The decor in the place was nothing special, it was quite big inside.
My Honey got Huevos Rancheros again.
I got the biscuits I wanted.
I also got the chicken fried steak.
It was humongous.
The egg was perfectly cooked so that the yolk ran down into it.
It was THE BEST chicken fried steak that I've ever had.
This place should be on Triple D.
It was absolutely worth the wait.
When we got back outdoors after our breakfast, there wasn't a balloon left in the sky.
This area seemed to have all these bike trails and looks like they were being used too.
We walked back to the park to get the car and I noticed the playground had a little mini zip line and it had a seat that disabled kids could sit in to enjoy it as well.
I thought that was really nice.
Ours was the only car left parked there.
We drove around the residential area a bit just to have a look at the houses and there where some pretty nice ones.
Like this one.
I'm not sure what those posts are for sticking out of the wall but I like them.
A lot of them had this plant in their yard, it looked like giant white feathers.
I really liked it.
It's nice that even though the lawns are mainly rock, there is still lots of nice green around.
We went to Hobby Lobby again - goodness I love that place.
Then we went to a Sketchers store so I could look for a pair of shoes for my niece.
I got them for her as a thank you gift for watching our kitties while we were away.
There was a frozen yogurt place next store so we each got one and sat outdoors to enjoy the gorgeous weather while we ate them.
Can you tell whose is whose?
Hint - I love chocolate and nuts on my ice cream.
We left there and found a Target so we went in there and shopped around for a bit.
I love looking at Target and Walmart in the states and just checking out all the different things that they have.
I was craving an ice coffee when we left and we saw a Freddy's so we went in.
They had no ice coffee but we ended up getting ice cream sundaes.
Of course this has chocolate so it's mine.
My Honey goes for the fruit on his - I don't like that because the fruit gets to cold and it hurts my teeth when I eat it.
From there we headed over to Coronado Mall.
We had tickets for the Park & Ride to head back out to the Balloon Festival grounds again tonight for Glow.
That's when they light up all the balloons at dusk.
We were only leaving on the bus at 4 so we shopped around the mall for a bit.
I ended up getting a few tops - spent way more than I wanted to.
Then I went to Potato Corner again to get some of those fabulous fries they have.
I got half and half this time - cheddar and sour cream.
We took our food to go and went out and got in the line up for the buses.
There was a line up started already but it was nowhere near as long as yesterday morning and we got on a bus pretty quickly.
We arrived at the grounds just in time to hear them singing the national anthem and to see these parachuters.
They had colored smoke coming off them somehow and one of them was carrying a gigantic American Flag.
Just parachuting into the Balloon Festival with an enormous flag.
We walked around the grounds a bit - they had these Walk on Water balls.
You would just get inside and walk around on the water.
Kind of neat.
The grounds were huge, we thought we could go over to the balloon museum but it wasn't part of the grounds.
We walked right to the end though.
Then we headed back into the thick of things.
They had all kinds of Balloon Fiesta souvenirs in this huge tent, we popped in and had a look, didn't buy much.
Wow, this place has lots of options.
Cool sign everyone was lined up to take a picture with.
A pink SUV - love it!
We came a Mariachi Band performing.
There were also some Native dancers performing.
Their costumes/outfits were really cool.
We watched them for a little, my goodness, they must have been exhausted for all the jumping around they were doing.
Just look at the sea of people.
We took a walk back down to where the chainsaw carvers were, got some better pictures of these carvings in the light of day.
That Groot is pretty cool - I wouldn't mind having him standing out next to my front door.
We went back up the hill on the edge of the grounds to have a birds eye look at it all.
That's the balloon museum off in the distance there that we never did have a chance to check out.
It's kind of weird actually that it isn't part of the fair grounds.
Some of the balloons were starting to go up.
There's the first one.
Wasn't long until there were a whole bunch more, they were just popping up everywhere.
We decided to get down on the field and get into the action.
We walked along the back side of the field though and it was a lot less crowded there so that was nice.
Watching them inflate is kind of fun.
Takes a whole team to get it done.
Who would have guess that it would be such hard work?
It was a great vibe down on the field, it felt great being amongst it.
Balloons, balloons and more balloons.
I just wanted to take pictures of every single one because they were all so unique and beautiful.
Nice to see that Canadian flag - Canada is representing.
It was just action all over the place.
This one has kind of a Sante Fe type pattern only with brighter colors.
It was so much nicer on this side of the field, barely any crowd at all which was so nice.
Looks like a woodpecker on that one in behind.
Trying for another selfie with the balloons in behind us.
My Honey!
Moi!
Can't wait to see that pink one when it's up.
There's the gas attendant, lying down on the job ;-)
These pictures just can't capture the feeling of being there, it was really wonderful.
I like the ones with the little flags hanging off them like this.
The wolf one is pretty, we saw him up in the air this morning.
More shapes and colors.
Another of the oblong shaped ones - I like them.
So many colors and patterns.
It's amazing that they can come up with so many beautiful variations.
I liked being in the middle of the field with the balloons all around - it felt kind of fairy like.
I see the wagon one there in the back.
Nice polka dots!
The art on this one is great.
The pink one is up, turns out it's a pig - love it.
We saw this bull one up in the sky this morning too.
An African safari sunset.
These had similar colors and patterns but the shapes were different.
Love, love, love this seal one.
There was even a stork.
Being here for this totally makes up for missing out on the mass ascension yesterday morning.
It was coming on dusk so some of them were starting to light up.
Just WOW!
I was worried about how cold it would be if you went up in the balloon but I could feel the heat from this all the way over where I was standing.
It was H-O-T, hot!
I would come to this festival every single year and love it just as much every time.
I think most of the balloons are up now.
Wonder how many there are all together?
Love the tail on the pig.
Normally I'm not really into geometric patterns but on the balloons they look great.
This one is creepy.
Selfie from right in the thick of things.
Oh look, its Humpty Dumpty.
There was even a Bass Pro Shops one in there.
At dusk, they did a countdown and then the 'Glow' began.
The "Glow" is basically the balloons being inflated then they light them up.
It looks so pretty.
I feel so thankful that we were able to be here and experience this.
A better view of the carriage one.
Now I see why there are so many with lots of yellow in them, it looks really sharp when they are lit up.
When they were all lit up it just looked so pretty.
Finally, a great shot of the wagon balloon.
There is such a difference between when they are lit up and when they aren't.
A short clip of what 'Glow' was like.
Like this one.
(I found out that this is Bimbo, a mascot for a food chain.
In the evening, it just makes it that much more beautiful when it is lit up.
A lovely memorium balloon, I didn't catch a picture of it lit up.
They were lighting up and turning off, it was hard to catch them all lit up at the same time.
The white shows up really well when it's lit up too.
There's the Route 66 one again.
I like how they name them.
Such a sight to see.
Cool Koala.
Ooh, this flame one is pretty.
Even better when it's lit up - the light really suits it.
There's gas attendant guy again - I've seen lots of him.
I couldn't figure out what this was at first, I thought it was a snail.
Turns out it is a saxophone.
Who woulda thunk it?
It looked great lit up too.
There's that Ronald McDonald looking one lit up in the background.
You could see the sun setting in the background too which just added to the charm of the whole thing.
So gorgeous.
Most of the balloons had been deflated by this time but there was still the odd one up and when they were lit up they just looked so beautiful.
Then you could see these four lighted objects falling from the sky.
It was parachuters again.
This time they had fireworks shooting off the back of them - I have no idea how they did that.
They also had lit up suits which I couldn't quite capture properly in a picture but it did look really cool.
Then they put on a pretty amazing fireworks show.
It was such a clear night - it was beautiful.
Most of the fireworks show was to the right of the venue but then they set a bunch off from the back of the venue too.
It was a pretty spectacular evening all in all!
After the fireworks show, we headed back to the buses and back to the mall to pick up the car.
We were a bit hungry by this point so we looked for a spot to get a snack.
Our bus driver yesterday morning told us about Bob's Burgers so we decided to try it out.
We couldn't dine in because the restaurant seating area was closed but the drive through was still open so we just took the food back to the room with us.
My Honey had the green chile burger again and he said it was the best one of the trip.
I was looking at Facebook when we got back to the room and Miss H posted this sweet picture of she & my son.
It made me happy!
That is all for today, until next time, be happy!
