Monday and Tuesday are typically lower key days at the festival. The only event is the morning session (no evening display) and the format is a little different. The balloons divide themselves into two groups; those that want to compete and those that don't. The non-competitors launch from the fiesta field from dawn onwards (until about 8:00am). From 8:00am on-wards the field is closed to all balloon launches, vehicles and the public and is set up with a series of targets for competition. The competitor balloons choose a launch site at least 1 mile from the field and then attempt to fly to the field and drop a marker onto one of the targets.

The launch of the non-competitors was spectacular on both mornings. There are maybe 300 balloons getting ready and launching into the bright morning sun, with a much reduced spectator group milling around in amongst the action. On both days the special shape balloons were out in force. In some ways this is more spectacular than the mass launch of Sunday.

The competition part of the show is interesting and surprising. The surprising part is the way the competitors can maneuver their balloons using the fact that the air flows in different directions at different altitudes (this is a special feature of the Albuquerque site - as the trade winds from the SW mix with the flow of air off the Rockies from the NW). On each morning a number of competitors got their markers within a few feet of the center of the target.

This morning as we watched the closing minutes of the competition we said goodbye and thank you to our host Scott. He had given us a truly memorable experience. From the original suggestion that we attend, through Fridays familiarization tour, the VIP passes and the very useful explanations of what in the heck was going on, his hospitality seemed to know no bounds. Scott - thank you.

The only downside to the fiesta is the mass of photos and video clips Nina has to sort through.

From Albuquerque we headed west and then north to a place named Chaco Canyon a famous pre-european culture that thrived in the NW New Mexico area from 700AD until 1100AD. We will explore this area tomorrow.