Albuquerque Balloons

Long before "bucket lists" became a thing, I've wanted to attend the annual balloon festival in Albuquerque (ABQ), NM. I blame Dr. George Fischbeck, my favorite 1970s TV meteorologist, who bragged every year about going to the festival. It always sounded so exotic, but I never went. That is, until this year when the UCLA alumni travel group offered a weekend in ABQ to see the balloons. This would be our first big post-pandemic excursion. We booked the tickets 6 months in advance and kept our fingers crossed that COVID wouldn't shatter our plans.

Not yet ready to fly, we instead reserved an overnight "roomette" (i.e., bunk beds for two) on Amtrak—a tad cramped, but far better than, say, driving to New Mexico. The travel group arranged our hotel reservation: the luxurious Hotel Chaco, adjacent to Old Town Albuquerque and across the street from the Sawmill Market, a tasty food emporium serving everything from thin-crust pizza (me) to lobster po-boy sandwiches (Tim) to amazing fruit-topped waffles (me and Tim!). Food galore.

Amtrak roomette

Sawmill Market

Pizza from HAWT (Have a Wonderful Time)

On Friday night, we attended a reception where we met the other hundred or so alums from colleges across the country. Then it was to bed, so we could rise early the next morning to catch our buses to the festival. The first event of the day: the Dawn Patrol balloon release at—you guessed it—dawn! Meaning, of course, that we had to leave the hotel at 4:30AM. Beautiful, but I'm pretty sure every one of us took a long nap once we returned to the hotel at 10AM!

Dawn Patrol balloons aglow

Once the Dawn Patrol took off, balloons started to inflate all over the airfield, so we made our way down to get a closer look. The Albuquerque balloon festival is the only U.S. airshow that allows attendees to walk among the airships as they prepare to fly. Seeing the efficiency of the ground crews prepping the balloons for flight was exhilarating. In a matter of minutes, deflated balloons lying flat on the ground were filled with cold then hot air before launching. Mass Ascension began at 7AM, ending some 2 hours later with hundreds of balloons flying above. It was crowded, loud, colorful, and absolutely exciting—everything I always hoped it would be!

Before inflation

Filling with cold air

Ground crew members

Filling with hot air—very noisy

Surrounded by color

Up close

Mass Ascension: Up, up and away!

I especially loved the "shape" balloons: Airebelle the cow (sponsored by Creamland Dairy), Smokey the Bear, Harlequin, pink pig ("When Pigs Fly"), and even a red devil.

Harlequin

Watermelon balloon

Smokey the Bear

Red Devil. Note how tiny the people look below him.

Airebelle the Cow and penguin

When Pigs Fly

We returned at sunset for the "Twilight Twinkle Glow" show, where the balloons stayed on the ground but were illuminated by hot air flames. Magnificent.

Twilight Twinkle Glow

A glorious show!

Back again the next morning for Dawn Patrol, followed by another spectacular Mass Ascension. The most popular balloons on Sunday were Darth Vader and Yoda, accompanied by several cosplayers dressed as storm troopers, rebel fighters, and, of course, Boba Fett, who all secured the perimeter while the balloons were inflated. What a thrill!

Dawn Patrol flying overhead on Sunday

Balloons in various states of inflation. Note the woman

standing in the mouth of the balloon at bottom of photo.

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home"

Mass Ascension Day #2

Boba Fett securing the perimeter, while Yoda

inflates behind him. Darth Vader is still flat on the ground.

Darth whispering in Yoda's ear: "Come to the dark side!"

Darth Vader afloat. Note the tiny gandola hanging below.

We had a wonderful time and highly recommend making the trip to Albuquerque to see the biggest balloon fest in the U.S. But you'll need to get up early to see it all!

Old Town Albuquerque

The Force Awakens

 

Han Solo movie poster

 

Like everyone else in the universe, we're counting the days till the new Star Wars movie officially opens on Friday. To hold us over, we recently made a quick trip to Disneyland, where Tomorrowland has been transformed into the "Season of the Force," complete with a Launch Bay exhibit promoting the new movie and elite collectibles (a $4000 Darth Vader costume and $12,000 life-sized Storm trooper statue—yikes!). We rode "Star Tours," which has been updated to include Force Awakens characters (excellent!), but opted not to wait 90 minutes on line for the temporarily revamped "Space Mountain" ride.

 

 Updated Storm trooper

Millennium Falcon model

 

Yoda!

 

Imperial starcruiser model

 

Bring me the head of Darth Vader . . . 

as a cotton candy container—only at

Disneyland!

 

****************
THE MOVIE:

After successfully avoiding all reviews—and after re-watching the original Star Wars movies the night before—we made our way to our local multiplex yesterday morning for the 8:30AM show. It was already the third screening of the day. The theater wasn't full, but several large groups of adults entered together—I speculated they were employees of Sony and Culver Studios, both within walking distance. As usual, the audience was mostly male.

Tim and I loved the movie. Director J.J. Abrams got it exactly right. Filled with familiar imagery, plot lines and themes, it is the perfect sequel to the original three Star Wars films. (Prequels? What prequels?) Plus it was wonderful seeing all our favorite characters and spaceships. (The Millennium Falcon got a huge round of applause.) I won't spoil the story, which is filled with surprises. Suffice it to say, fans will laugh and cry (like I did), but will be overjoyed to be back in the world they love.

GO SEE IT RIGHT NOW! 

Rise of the Jack-O-Lanterns

We decided not to do the Disneyland Halloween party this year, so instead schlepped out to Arcadia for "Rise of the Jack-O-Lanterns," a large nighttime display of carved pumpkins setup on the Santa Anita racetrack parking lot. It took two hours to get there via surface streets (trying to avoid Friday night rush-hour traffic on the freeways—silly us!), 30 minutes to wait on line and only 30 minutes to go through the actual event, so I doubt we'll ever go back. But the pumpkins were impressive, as you can see below (click on images to enlarge). There were animals, dinosaurs, cars, skeletons, and monsters all made out of pumpkins. Even more impressive, however, was how they survived the oppressive heat—it was still 93 degrees in Arcadia when we arrived at 7PM!

Gigantic skull made of 20+ pumpkins

 

Muppets

 

Brad and Angelina

 

Yoda

 

Darth Vader

 

"Sadness," from Inside Out

 

"Joy," from Inside Out

 

In memoriam: Spock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orlando: Disney's Hollywood Studios

Gate to Disney's Hollywood Studios

On Sunday, I left Destination D early so Tim and I could explore Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park (formerly Disney-MGM Studios). Imagine our surprise when we were greeted by the same faux Pan-Pacific streamline-moderne architecture that also welcomes guests to our own Disney California Adventure (DCA). Even more exciting was the park's main street, "Hollywood Boulevard," which completely resembles L.A.'s mid-Wilshire district, where we lived for several years. I could hardly believe my eyes: 1930s Los Angeles Art Deco recreated right in the middle of Orlando, FL. Who knew? (Click here for the first in a series of interesting articles about the architecture of Disney's Hollywood Studios.)

Excellent replica of the iconic Crossroads 

of the World spire (sans Mickey) that's 

located on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, CA

Recreation of the 1935 Darkroom camera shop on

Wilshire Blvd.

Reproduction of the old J.J. Newberry 

store on Hollywood Blvd.

Based on the Academy Theatre in

Inglewood, CA

Inspired by the Floral Depot in

Oakland, CA

Commemorating the long-lost Carthay Circle 

Theatre, where Walt premiered Snow White,

and which also inspired the glorious Carthay Circle

restaurant in Disney California Adventure

The glamorous now-gone Brown Derby restaurant on 

Vine in Hollywood

The entire park is a giant homage to 20th-century movie-making. Instead of a plethora of rides, Hollywood Studios offers plenty of shows, like the "Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular," and backlot attractions. We ate lunch at a charming facsimile of L.A.'s world-famous Original Farmer's Market and then rode the "Great Movie Ride," a 20-minute journey through the history of Hollywood's classic cinema. Afterward, we visited the "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream" exhibit that ends with a brief but moving documentary about Walt.

Disney calls it the Sunset Ranch Market,

but we know it's really supposed to be

L.A.'s Original Farmer's Market

Replica of Walt's office in the "One Man's Dream" exhibit

Entrance to the "Great Movie Ride:" a

faux Grauman's Chinese theater,

complete with celebrity footprints

Many of the rides and shows (e.g., "The Magic of Disney Animation," "Star Tours," and "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror") are also available at DCA and Disneyland, so I doubt we'll ever return. But it was fun seeing a group of pre-teen kids learning to use lightsabers, and then dueling with Darth Vader, as part of their Jedi Academy training. I can think of at least one young man who would probably love a bit of Star Wars cosplay at Walt Disney World.

"Sorcerer Mickey's Hat," similar to the one

at Disney's Burbank studios—reports confirm

the Orlando hat is being removed in early 2015