Land of Enchantment

Balloon Fiesta

It was the closest I ever felt to being inside a children’s storybook…

I suggest everyone go at least once to the international hot air balloon festival held in Albuquerque each fall (and only $15 for a general admission ticket).

I’m so lucky I’ve been able to see a lot of incredible, larger-than-life, take my breath away sights in this world, but Balloon Fiesta was one of my absolute favorites.

I had a hunch it would be awesome, but I had no idea how awesome. I thought my friend Amy and I would watch the balloons the same way we watch 4th of July fireworks – from a distance. Instead we found ourselves right in the middle of the action.

We got to the field around 5:00 am (we had to catch the drone show from the car due to the crazy amount of traffic), but all the chaos was worth it once we parked and made our way into the park. There we were greeted with a sound and light show as the whoosh of air and the hiss of torches fired up the first wave of balloons – illuminating briefly the surrounding dark.

As the sun began to rise, so did more and more and more balloons until the sky was full of them. It was pretty much the coolest thing ever. Next up – I’m riding in one!

Shop Talk

After Albuquerque we headed back to Santa Fe (stopping for a ride on the Sandia Peak tram) and took in all the studios on Canyon street chatting it up with local gallery owners. We also managed to squeeze in a workshop trying our hand at the 1400 year old art of stained glass. I couldn’t get enough of how excited the artists were to share their time, work, readings suggestions, and hugs with us. While in Santa Fe we also visited the Loretta Chapel, home to the miracle staircase seen on Unsolved Mysteries. The story is fascinating – you can read more about it here.

Next up on our trip was checking into our fabulous Earthship in Taos (we still don’t know if we took the high road or not to get there lol, but damn if we didn’t try). I mean for a self-sustaining structure this thing was still bougie as fuck and we loved it.

Because we always try to pack in way too many things in a day, by the time we got to Taos we were exhausted and starving (we stopped along the way for a very eventful hike to nowhere that involved scaling steep inclines, wading in freezing water, and having our egos shattered by a woman 9 months pregnant with two toddlers in tow who somehow managed to both scale and wade much more effectively and gracefully than either of us did). Unable to get in at the restaurant we wanted in town and finding nothing else open we were growing desperate and hangry. Finally, we stopped at the only place that still had a light on – a nonassuming establishment called Suchness and OMG – the food I had there was some of the best I’ve had in my life (and I’m picky – not so much about what I eat but about finding it worthy of mention). The unusual pairings and intentionality put into both the quality of the food and the presentation was 5 star. We got the Waygu Steak (seared rare, broccoli relish, black garlic, grapefruit) the Rigatoni (preserved lemon, potato, black garlic, rapini, vegan rictotta, parmigiano reggiano, dill oil) and the Concord Grape Sorbet (peanut butter blondie, peanut butter powder, sliced grapes). Yum, yum, and yum!

The next day we headed out to The Ghost Ranch (whose history involved quarrelling brothers, a family murder, a bruha, and a snake that could wrap himself around the ranch at least twice). At the ranch we got to take in Georgia’s Okeefe’s famous painted landscapes via horseback.

After a day on the trails, we decided a relaxing end cap was in order and so off we went to the legendary healing waters of Oja Caliente. There we enjoyed soaking in the 8 pools known for their unique properties aiding in everything from digestion to depression.

Amy – thank you for being the most fun to travel with. I love that somehow our ‘once every five years trip’ has turned into a fall yearly tradition. Till KC!