October 3 – 8, 2012

 

Special Features:

• Four Events at Fiesta Park including:
• Evening Special Shapes Glowdeo
• Morning  Mass Ascension
• Night Magic Glow
• Farewell Mass Ascension
• Tram Ride to Top of Sandia Peak for Lunch
• Old Town Albuquerque
• Tour of Santa Fe
• Loretta Chapel
• Cristo Rey Church

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is unmatched anywhere else with the multitude of delightful shapes and sizes and the brilliant colors against the blue sky.  With or without balloons in the sky, October is the ideal time to visit Northern New Mexico.
You’ll delight in peaks and rivers on fire with golden aspen and cottonwood trees, warm Indian summer days under shock-blue skies and crisp, starry nights scented with pinon smoke.

Prices:

Double:  $1,275 pp
Single:  $1,615 pp
Triple:  $1,175 pp
Gold Trip Protection:  $90/pp

Day 1, Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Depart Springfield, Missouri for Amarillo, Texas.  Unless delayed, we should arrive in time from complimentary drinks and hot hors’ devour buffet from our hotel.
LODGING:  Drury Inn & Suites

Day 2, Thursday, October 4, 2012

Santa Fe, New Mexico is our destination for today.  We arrive in time for you to have lunch on your own before picking up our local Step-On-Guide for a Tour of Santa Fe.  Our tour includes the Fascinating Loretta Chapel with its “Miraculous Staircase” and the Cristo Rey Church which is the largest Spanish adobe structure in the United States.  Next, we check into our hotel right in the middle of everything.  You will have free time to shop for some handmade Indian jewelry and Santa-Fe-style treasures, or maybe check out some of the world-class art galleries and museums, all within walking distance of our hotel.  We have included an evening meal at the Ore House this evening.
LODGING:  Hilton Inn
MEALS:  Breakfast Dinner

Day 3, Friday, October 5, 2012

Today we travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico where late-morning free-time in Old town Albuquerque sets the pace for the day. Mid-afternoon we find our hotel and prepare for an early evening at the Evening Special Shapes Glowdeo.  The hot air balloons dazzle us with their multitude of colors and various shapes flickering against the soft New Mexico night sky.
LODGING:  Hampton Inn
MEALS:  Breakfast

Day 4, Saturday, October 6, 2012

We’re off once again to Fiesta Park to watch the mass ascension of over 500 hot air balloons, weather permitting.  The magnificent colors against the endless expanse of blue sky is totally awesome.  After the last balloon has made its way across the horizon, we will depart for Sandia Peak Tramway in preparation for our own ascension to the top of Sandia Peak where our included lunch at High Finance awaits.  It is really true that on a clear day you can see forever, with views to the north, south, east and west.  We return to our hotel for a few minutes of down time before departing once again for Fiesta Park and the Night Magic Glow.  Walk among the balloons and talk with the operators.  Learn how they inflate their balloons and what it takes to keep the balloons from leaving without the driver.
LODGING:  Hampton Inn
MEALS:  Breakfast  Lunch

Day 5, Sunday, October 7, 2012

Another early morning finds us back in Fiesta Park for the Farewell Mass Ascension as once again the site of over 500 balloons ascend into the early morning sky of New Mexico, weather permitting.  We depart New Mexico and head back east to Elk City, Oklahoma and the Clarion Inn for our nights lodging.  Our farewell dinner is included tonight at our hotel.
LODGING:  Clarion Inn
MEALS:  Breakfast Dinner

Day 6, Monday, October 8, 2012

We return to the Ozarks remembering all the pleasant surprises we’ve had during our trip to the “Land of Enchantment”.
MEALS:  Breakfast