Our friends are arriving at the Albuquerque airport today around 11 am. As always, we are up early and out the door. So what can you do on the way from Santa Fe to Albuquerque? First stop, Coronado Historic Site. Guess what? Closed on Tuesdays!

So where else can you go? I see a sign on I-25 – “Balloon Museum.” Well, of course, it’s Albuquerque and what everyone thinks you are going to do when you come here – see the Hot Air Balloon Festival. The Festival is in October and we generally are back home by then; this year is no different. So the next best thing is the museum.

It’s a museum you might expect to be large since it has to talk about big hot air balloons. Actually, it turns out to be quite interesting since I know very little about the history or how much goes in to a hot air balloon rising and sailing ‘around the world’ or across the city. The exhibits are well done and explain everything – the history, the weather conditions, the different kinds, exhibitions and more. Quite educational, including the greeter volunteer who wants to educate us as soon as we walk in the door. Worth a stop if you are ever in the area – or before you go to the balloon festival!

I almost forgot to mention the Pin collections. Apparently, collecting pins from all the different balloon festivals and competitions is something people enjoy doing.

A famous exhibition in 1897 attempting to fly in a hot air balloon to the North Pole by Swedes is on display. They didn’t make it to the North Pole. Instead, they continued their adventure on foot and wrote diaries and their bodies were discovered 30 something years later.

Our next adventure is driving I-25 to the Albuquerque airport. Our friends arrive ahead of time and off we go to have some lunch back in Santa Fe at Harry’s Roadhouse. Delicious lunch.

With our friends here, it will be about conversation, food and drink! A walk around Santa Fe in the afternoon and dinner at Bumble Bee. I had to have my Green Chili Hamburger in Tortilla. Yum!