Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

No, it's not Burning Man. It's dawn on the last day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, just before the mass ascension of over 500 balloons.  Someone is testing their propane burner.  The propane flames inside the balloon gondolas make the ascending balloons glow in the dark. Very cool.

 

The main reason we're here in ABQ is because of the annual American Dance Therapy Association conference. I attended on Friday and Saturday, presenting a workshop and visiting with friends and long time colleagues.  I decided to take Sunday off so we could attend the Fiesta on its last day. Up at 5:00 AM, we rode a school bus to the Balloon Fiesta Park, getting there just at dawn. The Dawn Patrol, about ten balloons that go up to test the wind, had just ascended. 

Balloonists and their crews were rolling out their balloons and setting up for inflation, which is accomplished with high powered fans, and then the propane torches in the gondolas. Here's one being blown up with the fan, the gondola on its side and attached to the balloon.

When it has enough air in it to come upright, the torches begin their job.

The balloons are very tightly packed together, lying right next to one another, and as they begin to inflate, they crowd each other for airspace.  One of the best things about the event is that you can walk out among the balloons as they are inflating and taking off. You just have to watch your step and stay out of the way of the working crews. It's so much more exciting than sitting in bleachers or watching from a distance.

When a crew gets the signal from the zebras (the men and women who are the flight controllers of the ascension), the balloon is untethered and breaks free from the ground. The crowd around it cheers.

One of the first balloons to pass over our heads had an American flag hanging from its basket. I got all choked up. 

The balloons were beautiful in the early light...

...and when the sun came up they were even more beautiful! You can get a sense of how many there were in this picture. The ascension went on for a couple of hours I think. 

In addition to the traditional balloons there are some that are in fanciful shapes. This one is Noah's arc. 

  The ascension basically starts at one end of the 78 acre park and works its way to the other end, and the crowd follows. We kept hearing people saying "The Bees are coming up, the Bees, the Bees!" And then there they were. 

By about 8:30 they were all up, and we headed back to the school bus.  The mass of balloons had spread out across Albuquerque, some descending nearby, others drifting off into the dessert. As we rode home, we caught a view of the the Shark, the last balloon to ascend, carefully wending his way through the smokestacks and towers of a nearby factory.

Being completely surrounded by the masses of balloons inflating and ascending, then watching them rise into the sunshine and drift away was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.  It was a great way to top off our visit to Albuquerque.  We'll be leaving soon, heading south to Carlsbad Caverns and then Big Bend by the end of the month. 

Chama, NM: Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

As I've mentioned, there isn't a whole lot going on in Chama other than the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, which runs between that town and Antonito, CO.  Before we got here we had been told that it was well worth the time and money, so on our last day in Chama, we took a full day ride.

We arrived at the historical station in Chama at 9:45 and walked around the railroad yard before were  allowed onto the train.

There are lots of antique train cars in the yard, some look like they haven't been used for a very long time.  Our train was about eight cars long, with an open air car in the middle, accessible to all the passengers. 

After reading the reviews online, we decided to splurge and go first class. (It's a lot more affordable than first class on an airplane!)  We had very comfortable chairs facing the windows, with a little ledge on which to put our refreshments and other things.

We had a very nice hostess who served us a breakfast of fruit, pastries and beverages, and shared interesting information with us as we travelled.  Notice the beautifully restored details of our car. The roof is pressed tin, the woodwork was beautiful cherry and there were several large hanging gas lamps  and sconces.

The first class car is last one on the train because the smell of the smoke, the dust and cinders are supposedly less.  We were able to stand out on the back platform whenever we wanted and the air was usually clean and fresh.  It was a comfortably warm, sunny day, so I for one was out there a lot. It was a perfect place to take pictures.  The train's fireman was also out there most of the time, keeping an eye out for fires that might be started by the sparks from the locomotive.  

The train is pulled by an authentic coal-fired steam engine. That means lots of coal smoke, ash and tiny cinders being spewed all the time, especially when going uphill.  The coal is shoveled into the stove, just like it was originally.

The two plumes of smoke coming from the engine are steam (white) and coal smoke (black).  The train is followed by a fire car that also looks for fires, and is equipped to put them out. 

The train runs on narrow gauge rails, which means there is less space between the two rails. This is kind of train is rare, and so is of great interest to train buffs.  The train travels at a maximum of 22mph, and often travels slower when going up inclines.  At first it seems unbearably slow, but you get used to it.

The other cars are similar to ours, some with small tables, some with bench seats.  I think any of them would have been comfortable and some people might actually prefer the bench seats. 

The cars have no heat and no air conditioning, but all the windows can be opened wide.  Some of the passengers we talked to had ridden this train in October when there was a blizzard and they didn't get back to the station until after midnight. Another time the engine tipped right off the rails while trying to get through the snow. I guess we were fortunate with the weather. 

The train climbs uphill most of the way out of Chama, passing water towers like this one, making wide looping turns to get up the elevation, and going over various trestle bridges.  Because the engine runs on steam, it must have a supply of water to be heated by the coal. So the towers are interspersed along the route in case the tank needs a refill.

The scenery was great, especially in the first half of the trip up to Osier, where we had lunch.  The lunch was a buffet, with the choice of meatloaf, turkey, or soup and salad. It was all very good, especially the coconut custard pie  : )


 In this picture you may be able to see some muddy smudges on the upper window panes. Those are bear prints. It seems that the local bears try to get in to the food through the windows.  I assume they are now some kind of strong plexiglass, because the weight of a bear would certainly break glass windows.

Here's a nice view of a high mountain valley from the back platform. The round wheel you can see in this picture is the break wheel. When going down hill, the fireman on the back puts on the break to keep the train from going too fast or descending out of control.

Here's the Cascade Trestle Bridge - the highest on the route.

This is the Cascade Creek, I think. 

On the second half of the trip the train passes through two tunnels. The first is the Rock Tunnel.

The second tunnel is the Mud Tunnel, and because it passes through mud, it is braced, unlike the Rock Tunnel.

We were fortunate to pass through many areas of peak aspen color.

When we reached the end of the line in Antonito, we said goodbye to the train... 

...and loaded into a modern motor coach for the ride back to Chama, at 60 mph.

Next, the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque!

Taos, New Mexico

A long time ago, when I was maybe 10 years old, my parents and I travelled to Taos, NM so my father could receive their recognition and thanks for doing some work for the Pueblo.  They were in the midst of a struggle to maintain control and exclusive access to Blue Lake, a sacred place for their people. My father had supported their case, probably with an amicus brief and as an expert witness, in either the state or the federal courts, justifying the Pueblo's claim as a right to religious freedom.  I don't remember all the details, but I do remember the unique feel of being there and the honor I felt on behalf of my father. We may have been there at a time when there were some ceremonial dances. The chief at the time gave my father a gift of a basket made at the pueblo, and I still have it hanging in our RV. So it was pretty special to be back there again.  I do believe they may have won their case, at least in part, as the land around Blue Lake is now off limits to anyone but the tribe.

The Taos Pueblo is distinct from the town of Taos, which is a touristy, hectic kind of place, with traffic jams and not enough parking. The Pueblo is very quiet. It is recognized as the longest continuously inhabited community in the country, and the present buildings (excluding the church) are estimated at 1000 years old.  

The buildings are all made of adobe, a mixture of earth and straw. The adobe is refurbished every year. 

The pueblo is comprised of two major residential structures with a few smaller ones clustered nearby, two ceremonial areas with several kivas each, the mission church, a few corrals, and a cemetery. There is a stream running through the middle, which is their only water source. There is no electricity or plumbing in the buildings.  The residential structures have many family homes, like apartments, that are all separate but with shared walls, and originally the only entrance to each home was through the roof. Doors were added in more recent times and are often brightly painted in contrast to the monochromatic adobe.  The round structure in the photo below is an oven where bread is baked.

The original San Geronimo (St. Jerome) church was built by Catholic missionaries in 1619 then destroyed twice in revolts or altercations (and interesting history worth reading about) and rebuilt in its current location in 1850.  That pole you can see through the gate below is not a telephone pole, it is a ceremonial pole for some ritual purpose.  I don't think I saw any telephone poles.

The San Geronimo church is quite beautiful inside, with artistic references to both Catholic figures and Native American culture. (No photography allowed.)

The original church, in ruins, is now a cemetery.

The Tiwa people who built and reside in the pueblo practice a blend of Catholicism and their traditional beliefs. Almost all their names are Spanish as a result of the missionary influences over the centuries.  Along with the church and the Catholic cemetery there are traditional kivas in the Pueblo - round, below ground-level ceremonial structures, that are off limits to visitors (below). The Tiwa keep their sacred beliefs and rituals very private.

Ristras, or strings of dried chilies hang from the supporting beams throughout the Pueblo.  

Ladders are still used to access the different levels of the Pueblo buildings.

 On my way out of Taos on Rt. 64 I stopped at a roadside market selling ristras of Hatch chilies.  Hatch is a town in NM where these particular kinds of chilies are grown. This actually turned out to be a Mexican import store with thousands and thousands of inexpensive ceramic pots, blankets, jewelry, ironwork, tiles, and more, all from Mexico.

The road back to Chama crossed over the Rio Grande Gorge. I had no idea there even was a Rio Grande Gorge, so this was a complete surprise. And it is really grande - 650 deep at the point where the Rt. 64 bridge crosses it.  Looking down, those of us on the bridge watched five big horn sheep traverse the sides of the gorge, eating as they went.

And another surprise!  The Earthship Community!  The visitor's center is right on Rt. 64, west of Taos and the residential community is spread among the hills adjacent to the visitor's center.

There seems to be a lot of building going on, but not on Sunday when I was passing by. 

The sign says, "Warning! Official U.S.A. Sustainable Testing Site, 2.00 Acres"  ????   I don't even know if it was serious or a joke.  It could be a spoof on warning signs put up by the government around bombing sites.  Is the government funding this experiment? I guess it wouldn't surprise me if they had grants from the feds - sounds like something Obama would support.

"The Earthship" is actually the name of this kind of home, designed to be energy efficient in multiple ways. Their website is full of information about it. Turns out they are in other locations as well.  Looks like another planet doesn't it.  Star Wars?  These two homes are for sale.

So I had plenty to ponder about the comparison between the Earthships and the Taos Pueblo: innovative, alternative, high tech vs. traditional, alternative, low tech energy efficient communities.  How has the traditional influenced the contemporary?  Is there a future for either?

Refrain: Everything old is new again.