By coloneljethro on Skatehive
[//]:# (!worldmappin 35.19679 lat -106.59683 long Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta d3scr) It never fails, you get a bunch of gasbags together and before you know it, you're having to deal with a whole lot of hot air. Next thing you know, they're higher than a kite too! Each October, the world's largest gathering of gasbags takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For nine days, hundreds of hot air balloons fill the skies for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. In 2023, my partner and I embarked upon a two week road trip, culminating with a morning mass ascension at the Balloon Fiesta. The shindig started before sunrise, think we were in the parking lot by 0500, with some of the balloons beating the sun into the sky. As the sun peaked over the mountains and gradually shed a light on things, you got a better sense of the scale of the spectacle. For the mass ascensions, all the balloons take off in two waves, with hundreds taking off at a time. One of the things that make