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Flight From Albuquerque to Burbank, and on to Sacramento - October 14, 2023

Pescado, NM, west of Ramah along Highway 53, south of Gallup, NM.

Meteor, AZ.

That's the Ivanpah Solar Generating Station glimmering there in the distance!  I used to do air quality modeling for that facility when I worked at Sierra Research!

Mojave City, CA/ Avi Resort and Casino, along the Colorado River.

Bullhead City, AZ/ Lake Mohave.

The Ivanpah Solar Generating Station.

Edwards AFB/ Rogers Dry Lake.

There are those mountains again!

Castaic Lake.

East of Castaic Lake?

Castaic Lake.

Camanche Reservoir.

Cooling towers of the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant (built, but never commissioned).

Annular Solar Eclipse in Albuquerque - October 14, 2023

It was a crazy, busy weekend, but there was time for me to watch an eclipse. And also time enough to lock the keys in the rental car's trunk. None of my pictures of the eclipse worked out - digital cameras by themselves aren't good for that purpose. But in Albuquerque, only about a mile from the eclipse's centerline and cloud-free (aside from a few contrails), it was a PERFECT annular eclipse, with the moon precisely centered on the sun's face. And Albuquerque won't see another one like it in 375 years! And so, I watched the eclipse as I waited for AAA (chosen at Rachel's suggestion).

We couldn't find a collander with circular holes, so we used a vegetable steamer instead to see the multiple eclipse crescents.

Watching the eclipse with the Buck family.

Caption and image from The Atlantic (Sam Wasson / Getty): The moon crosses directly in front of the sun during an annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, above Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Time-Lapse

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Chasing Balloons - October 14, 2023

I was surprised to see this empty lot at Osuna and Edith Blvds.  Until recently there was a Blake's Restaurant here.  I have fond memories of coming here with my dad, for burgers.  One afternoon, we ate burgers as a rainstorm hammered the parking lot outside.  With the splashing raindrops, suddenly, the parking lot was filled with tiny jumping toads.  We watched the tiny toads jump and jump.  Then the rainstorm was over and the toads completely disappeared.

Uh oh, here comes trouble!  Heading north on Edith Blvd. on Saturday morning October 14th, we see a balloon in distress, barreling south, the opposite way, barely clearing treetops and the clutter of powerlines.  The balloon is desperately trying and failing to climb, trapped in some kind of wicked, low-level jet of air between the heights and the valley floor.

Climb, baby, climb!

Not climbing enough!

See you soon!

Returning south on Edith Blvd., here is clearly a balloon in distress.  The balloon crashed into the embankment of the Alameda Blvd. overpass over Edith Blvd.  The trouble here is that they desperately want to deflate the balloon, package it up, and take it away, and out of the wind, but the hot air is caught inside the balloon's canopy.

And here is that balloon that flew past overhead, having landed, but the balloon fell over on power lines.  The people in the basket were still there.  I pulled over and took one photo.  Then a man across the street yelled at me, "This is a sensitive situation! No photos or videos, please!"  So, I drove on.  Apparently the people here were OK.  I saw nothing about them in the press.  But it's clear there is an active effort by Balloon Fiesta supporters to quickly bury anything resembling bad news.  There are likely dozens of bad landings at an event like this, but just a few of them make it to TikTok.  

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Mass Ascension - Saturday, October 14, 2023

Dawn Patrol, as seen from jammed traffic on Alameda Blvd., before sunrise, at, oh, maybe 6:40 a.m.

Starting about 7 a.m., as seen from our illegal parking space, after stuck in traffic for more than an hour and failing to find a legal parking space.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2023

Most of our interactions with the Balloon Fiesta proper were pretty dispiriting. We struggled through the traffic and the crowds and went down on Wednesday night, October 11th, to see the Glowdeo, but it was cancelled due to high winds. Instead we saw the drone light show (cool, but tacky, due to an emphasis on slot machines, due to being sponsored by Sandia Casino and Resort), plus fireworks. 

We went down again on Thursday night, after taking a nap, but we arrived too late, and saw just a few balloons lit up. We saw the drone light show and fireworks again. The festival grounds were like a state-fair concessions midway from hell. 

On Saturday morning, we wanted to see the Mass Ascension. We overslept, leaving the house at 5:50 a.m. for the 7:00 a.m. event. People recommend you arrive no later than 4 a.m. We were far too late. We were in a traffic jam for an hour, and when we arrived, all the parking lots were full. All we could do was park illegally, daring the cops to arrest us for blocking a route for emergency vehicles, and eventually, just chase balloons.