I think I probably live in one of the only major cities in the country where on any given day, it�s not that unusual to see a few hot air balloons floating around in the sky early in the morning while you drive to work. But although I see balloons all the time, I�m still slack-jawed at the sight of the sky filled with tens and hundreds of hot air balloons. It�s a very surreal feeling, and even though I know it�s just the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta that Albuquerque hosts every fall, for a minute or two it feels like maybe it�s some kind of very colorful invasion. This year, Dan�s parents are coming out to visit while it�s going on. Dan�s dad is an ex-fighter pilot, so it�s hard to impress him when it comes to flying equipment, but I think anyone would be impressed with the sight of that many balloons. They start launching them every day at sunrise (yes, I will be getting my lazy self out of bed at 4:30 to get on a bus and ride to attend this glorious event.) and there are lots of special shapes and cartoon character balloons, so it�s a lot of fun. Also, you can get every kind of deep-fried food known to man there, including the infamous Fried Snickers and Fried Twinkie. As a disclaimer, I have never actually eaten either one, because I am afraid my arteries would instantly slam shut in response to that much grease, but people eat them by the truckload at the fiesta. We are all about our health food out here. So in the next couple of weeks, if I manage not to drive off the road looking at all the pretty balloons, I�ll try to take some good balloon pictures and post them here. In the meantime, here�s a picture taken of Dan and I at last year�s fiesta. The shapes in the background are the balloons getting blown up before they launch.