The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

No balloon ride today...

Despite the best efforts of World Balloon Company in Albuquerque, New Mexico...we were not able to get off the ground! They really tried hard knowing that we were only in Albuquerque for three days. But the weather just wouldn't cooperate.

We got up at 5:30am this morning and so did our couchsurfing hosts Cheryl and Mike. Cheryl made coffee for everyone and we said our goodbyes. Thanks for being such great hosts Cheryl and Mike! Then, we headed out to the meeting spot for our balloon ride.

The guys from World Balloon were there waiting for us at the arranged 6:45am time.

This was taken at 6:49 am. There's Ruth trying to stay warm!

The temperature was only 39F (3C) and it was cloudy. Abnormally cold for this time of year, but it's not the cold that stops the balloon from going up. It's the wind, and at this particular time there was a pretty strong breeze. But sometimes if the sun can break through the clouds it will calm the winds down really quickly. So we waited around about 45 minutes to see if that would happen.

There were seven people scheduled to go up and they had two balloons ready to be deployed if the weather changed.

C'mon sun...you can do it!

But the clouds moved back, and the winds continued, and of course safety is the prime consideration. Thanks for trying so hard for us World Balloon...we'll be back to Albuquerque another time and perhaps the weather will be back to normal!

So instead, we got an early start to the city of Taos...we'll tell you all about it tomorrow morning!

14 comments:

  1. Shame about missing the ride! Enjoy Taos!

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    1. Sad about not being able to do it this time around but we will do it one day. I definitely can see us coming back to this neck of the woods (or is that desert) again!

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  2. Darn, sorry that happened - but so good to hear your positive attitudes - Cheers to that!

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    1. Thank you Cheryl, I am sure we will get our chance to go up in a balloon some day. Thanks again for everything, we had a great time.

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  3. I'm so disappointed for you.... sure hope you go up another time soon. That experience is out of this world!

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  4. So sorry that you didn't get your ride. Hopefully you will make it back.

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  5. Oh bummer. Glad Albuquerque sounds like a place you might return to so you'll have another chance. Is this time of year the best for ballooning?

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    1. Albuquerque is the ballon capital of the world because they have near perfect weather for flying ballons. They have about 300 days of sunshine a year and they have a box effect for the wind which makes it perfect for ballooning unfortunately these last few days have been very abnormal for this time of year. The best time for ballooning in at the beginning of October which is why they hold the balloon festival then.

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  6. I'm pretty sure we will be back through the area sometime in the next year or two. Save us a place in front of your house for the motorhome!

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  7. all i ever think about when we get near New Mexico is my fetish for any foods with green chiles... love their style of cooking in that state...

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  8. Too bad about the Ballon ride, maybe next time. The weather here in Ontario in pretty rotten too. It will get nice one day right???

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  9. Speaking of "abnormal for this time of year", your blood is way too thin for the kind of cr*p we're having here. Some sort of freezing rain/winter storm watch/whatever in effect. And I'm in talks with a company to install air conditioning....
    Something not quite right there.

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