Sky-riding, stories in stone, chile red and green While other kids blew up balloons, Brooke Owen rode beneath them. His mother’s hobby led to family trips around the world.
Now the Rainbow Ryders pilot fills his wicker gondola with 12 landlubbers yearning to float on air. Just past dawn, he alternately fires a propane burner and releases heat through the multi-colored balloon’s vents to buoy us to 1,000 feet.
Averaging 310 sunny days a year, Albuquerque is ideal for year-round ballooning. Today, 15 mph winds carry us between the Sandia Mountains and neighborhoods resembling tabletop architectural models.
Dogs in backyards look up; they hear the burners fire. So can “Bullhorn Betty,” a resident who broadcasts complaints to low-flying balloons.
Sometimes, Owen says, you see kids on trampolines or nude sunbathers. Wild activity in balloons? Well, a “fiancée freak-out” grounded a midair proposal to someone terrified of heights.
Moving west toward dormant volcanoes, we trace their lava flow to the escarpment where Petroglyph National Monument preserves 20,000 picture-book petroglyphs chiseled in the volcanic rock centuries ago. Cottontails hop across sacred scrub-filled grounds.
A half-dozen balloons float this morning, but during Balloon Fiesta in October, hundreds shaped like cartoon characters, chili peppers and other novelties will fill the sky.
For ground-level color, we poke around Old Town. Tucked behind craft shops is an always-open mysterious chapel and KISS café with home-made, 1970s-priced watermelon salad, apple empanadas and fresh agave-sweetened lemonade. Don’t miss Darryl Wilison’s trippy “burlesque western” art inside.
Spaceship houses … a haunted sanitarium … locals’ fave eateries? For a terrific Albuquerque jump-start, hop aboard the new ABQ Trolley. While traversing Route 66 and neighborhoods from downtown to Nob Hill, Jesse and Mike mix history, oddities and humor. Tip: Tour tickets cost less online.
Combine exercise with sightseeing by biking or hiking beautiful Bosque Trail, which follows the Rio Grande from downtown to an excellent nature center to bird-filled vistas miles north.
Red or green? That is the question in Albuquerque, referring to one’s preference of chili. Sample both at El Pinto, a lively family-owned restaurant/salsa factory. Follow the aroma to a local tradition in progress: peppers flame-roasting on the patio.
When you’re ready to go airborne again, ride the Sandia Peak Tramway. Sandia means “watermelon” — the mountains’ mica, feldspar and quartz sparkle pink at sunset. Which is a perfect time to view the foothills and city glittering two miles below.
Reach Robin Tierney at [email protected]
