The above items are copies of two "tweets" that I made tonight on Twitter as I was trying to get home tonight from my evening class. Traffic tonight was a big holy mess (at least for me), one really made worse not better by the traffic control measures used tonight.

The letter I got from the Balloon Fiesta with my get out of jail free / traffic pass made it sound like I would not have any problems with traffic during the week, only during the weekends would there be any roads closed. So here is a direct quote from the letter that accompanied my bypass road closed / traffic pass:

While traffic will be affected by Balloon Fiesta guests during every event, the only times traffic flow will be intentionally altered will be Saturday and Sunday mornings from about 5:00am until 10:00am and evenings from about 5:00pm to 9:00pm. Between these hours, Alameda will be closed at San Mateo for westbound traffic and at Balloon Museum Drive for eastbound traffic. Also during those times, the southbound frontage road of I-25 from Tramway to Alameda will be affected.

Well, I guess that was wrong. On my way home from class tonight I figured I would just get off I-25 at Alameda like I normally do, and traffic would be just a little heavier then normal. Oh boy was I wrong. I got off the freeway and it was just grid-locked to all hell. I wished I had gotten off at Paseo, and had just come in the back way. I would have saved a few minutes at least.

Hell, it took me 12 minutes just to cross under the freeway. Well once I was pass the first road block, I only got to drive 0.2 miles before I got to another road-block where I had to wait another 6 minutes. After being cleared to turn left on to San Mateo, I drove another 0.2 miles before I hit another road-block. I was lucky in that I was able to make a quick right turn and did not have to wait there. From there I was able to go the rest of the way home with out issue.

Now I should point out that it took me right about 20 minutes to go 0.9 miles (I used Google Maps). That averages out to about oh, 3 mph, and really most of that was spent just sitting there. When I could get past road blocks, I was able to move at a decent speed. So from the time I left CNM to the time I got home took about 34 minutes, or more then double what it normally would take me.

After all this is over (I mean Balloon Fiesta) I think I am going to have to sit down with the Balloon Fiesta people and discuss this. Waiting as long as I hate to wait is just insane. There is a line in the above letter that says "This traffic route might be a little longer then usual, but it should take less time than if APD didn't manage the traffic on Alameda." IDK about that. If they had just left the traffic lights working, I think I would have been home a lot quicker then I did tonight. Now granted, the people who were leaving Balloon Fiesta Park would have not moved as fast, but I would have.

So after a quick 3 day trip to rural Oklahoma for my grandma's (dad's mom) funeral, I am home again and glad to be so. The trip was good, but way way way too fast. 2 days spent on the road for one day in Oklahoma is a lot. The service was good, and I must say it was really nice to catch up with family.

But, now I am back and need to jump right back into things. Here in Albuquerque this week is once again the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which means that once again I am crewing. I really enjoy crewing as its a time to see old friends and have a lot of fun.

Now there are so down sides to Balloon Fiesta (well at least as a resident of Albuquerque). Traffic is one of those things. Ever year this event brings about 100,000 to 200,000 people from out of town / state to our fair city during the week. Right now and really for the rest of the week there is not a hotel room to be had here. Since we already do have our own issues with traffic, throwing that much extra people in town does not make things any better. Add that to the fact that I live 1 mile from Balloon Fiesta park (where this all goes down) and things get really fun.

I must say APD (Albuquerque Police Department) does a really good job of traffic control and give us people passes to access our houses who live in the "war zone" as I like to call due to all the traffic. But never less, this whole week I pad my schedule with lots of extra time to get to places since I know traffic is not as good as normal.

Anyway, I know I say this every year, but if you ever get a chance to get out this way to the Balloon Fiesta, you really should. Its such a great event to take in and I am very lucky to live here and to see this each and every year.

Sorry I was not able to post more this past week. With the Balloon Fiesta, School, and Work, things have been so crazy busy. Anyway, since the two pilots in our group needed to get back to Texas (where they live), today (Saturday) was our last day of Balloon Fiesta for this year. I was happy the winds were good for today since I got my second balloon ride, with my first being back in 2005. I will have a real update sometime in the next day or two but for now, here is my Balloon Fiesta Picture Post Roundup, Complete With Captions This Time...

The above pictures are from the dawn patrol. They go up before everyone else and get a feel for what the weather is doing. They do other stuff that is escaping my mind at the moment. A sign at the K&I Diner where we went to breakfast the Sunday of the first weekend. The food at the K&I was just 110% amazing. If it was not on the other side of the city, I would so go there more offen. This the balloon that I normaly crew for which is piloted by Dick Goss. I took this picture from a balloon piloted by Fred Edmiston who is good friends with Dick and part of the group I run with. Taken from Fred's balloon looking south down the Rio Grande as we floated into the north end of Corrales. The balloons that look like they are landing in the river are doing what is called a "Splash and Dash"

Fred landed the balloon where all those other balloons are. It was a very popular spot to land today. This is the very end of Rupert’s Lane in Corrales, NM. Just to the right of all the balloons and next to the ditch is the Rio Grande River, which is just out of the picture. A close up view of where we landed today. I am still amazed that we were able to get in there with all those other balloons there and all the other "traffic" flying around us. It did help that we were going north, and at the lower lever there was a south to southwest wind. That did help a little, plus the people already on the ground did help a lot. Another thing that the balloon fiesta is famous for is the food. There is a row of vendors that must be about half a mile long. Here you can find any type of food you want, so long as it is not healthy. In this picture on the right you have "Wisconsin Fried Cheese Curds" and on the left "Pork Chop On A Stick" A not too good picture of the "Motley Crew" that I run with during Balloon Fiesta. The two guys at the far end of the table with gray'ing hair are the two pilots. Dick Goss is sitting at the end of the table in a red shirt, with Fred Edmiston sitting just to the right of Dick. Fred's wife, Kay, is sitting next to Fred. Nothing says Balloon Fiesta like being mooned by a 4 story tall turtle. Can anyone say TURTLE ASS? And no Balloon Fiesta would be complete with out a witch giving the crowd the finger. Well, thats what it looks like. The picture is a result of what happened when the crew of that balloon got in a hurry and forget to put the broom handle into the witch’s hand. OPPS. LOL.

I wanted to post this back when I posted some of the other pictures from today's day on the field, but I did not have the time to crop and upload. So with out anymore wait, the new special shape:

Darth Vader ( Another shot of Darth behind the cut )

Yes, it is a hotair balloon, and it was the thought of everyone on the field that they really need speakers and to play the death march when it lifts off.