Ah, the gracious powers that be at the University of Oklahoma gave us October 5th off of school for the holy day of "OU-Texas Game". Not having money for tickets (and would rather find something else to do), Chris and I drove to Albuquerque to visit his Aunt and Uncle, see the annual Balloon Fiesta, and see the sights.

New Mexico Sign

Look! We're going to New Mexico! I'd never been there before (or Texas, which we were just leaving). What an adventure!

Lonely Desert Road

Just past the border, we stopped to take pictures and found our way to this deserted, forbidden road. How southwestern!

The brilliant red rocks of New Mexico certainly caught my interest...

We certainly don't have rocks like those in Ohio! Nor unusual formations like this:

Do you know what that is? Please let me know!

Here we are driving west along I-40 in New Mexico...

Awww...how cute!

On Saturday, we got up bright and early (4:30) in an attempt to reach the balloon festival in time for the 7 AM launch. The Balloon Fiesta is such an amazing and well-known event that the traffic was backed up for miles. Thankfully, launching was delayed until about 7:30, and we made it just in time!

Balloons of all shapes and sizes!

The air was crisp and full of noises from the local radio station and enormous heaters, used to fill the balloons.

Chris certainly enjoyed practicing his photography skills that day...

After the bulk of the 750 registered balloons had taken off, the winds picked up and prohibited the rest. Due to the unusual air circulation patterns in the valley, many balloons were able to land very near where they had lifted off.

While in New Mexico, we drove up to Bandalier National Monument

and saw many ancient Native American Cliff Dwellings:

The National Park Service allows you to even climb up in a select few:

Finally, we were able to visit Sandia Crest on Sunday afternoon. This is the mountain that overlooks Albuquerque and the Balloon Fiesta grounds.