Bed & Breakfast & Balloons: Our Early Morning Adventure in Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

October 4, 2016 – Monday, October 5, 2016

Written November 26, 2024

Traveling from Amarillo, Texas - Approx: a 4-1/2 hour drive. This was part of a longer road trip that started in St. Louis, Missouri and ended in Las Vegas, Nevada. It included: Kansas City, MO, Kansas City, KS, Oklahoma City, OK, Amarillo, TX, Albuquerque, NM, Flagstaff, AZ and Las Vegas, NV.

Background and Planning

I was excited about being in Alburquerque for a couple of reasons. One, my dad briefly spent some time there for work and he’d write and call to tell me about how peaceful the area was and about the beautiful views. Two, our accommodations for the night were different than usual, there was some history to it. Three, I was curious about the vibe of the city. Four, it just so happened that the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was taking place this week, while I didn’t buy tickets, I suspected there may be some areas to view them even if from a distance. Since Albuquerque was only one of the cities on our weeklong road trip, I wasn’t sure we’d arrive on the correct date or whether we’d be in any shape to enjoy an early morning activity.

Just so Curious

Upon our arrival in the city, the tire pressure on our indicator rental car lit up. I hoped that it was just a temporary thing, as the pavement where we were driving were more gravely than we’d experienced with this car. At 8:00PM in a dark and unfamiliar city, we decided it was best to get to our destination for the night and work on this situation in the morning.  We checked in to Casas de Suenos Old Town Historic Inn. (Listed on the Historic Registry) a little after 8:00PM. As I mentioned it was already dark, so we didn’t get to see much of the area. It was also colder than I expected for New Mexico.

At check in we were told to drive around to the back street and park in the driveway. Driveway? I was intrigued. We had our own little house with a parking space in the back off the street. The front door to our little house opened onto the street so we can easily grab our luggage from the driveway and bring it in. There was a kitchen with a fridge too, so if you spent more than a night there you could prepare your own meals. There were two bedrooms so that was neat. A back door opened to a courtyard where you can walk to the main house for meals. It was the back door that the desk clerk arrived through. She explained how to use the fireplace. We had a fireplace! She also told us about the hot air balloon festival, my traveling partner hadn’t remembered about that, so he was surprised.

Photo 1: bedroom

Photo 2: living room

Photo 3: alternate bedroom

After she left, we talked about how we wanted to spend our time in Albuquerque. The balloon festival was an early morning event, so that meant we couldn’t dilly-dally in the morning. Plus, we also had to double check the tire pressure in the tires before we left the area. We retired to our separate rooms for the rest of the night.

We Did It!

We got up at like 6:00AM and arrived at the Balloon Fiesta parking about 30 minutes later. It was fairly close, about 10 miles (15 min drive at that time of the morning). The thing that took the longest was the congestion as they collected money for parking. Since it was 45 degrees out and we didn’t exactly prepare to be out in cold weather, plus we didn’t know how long we’d be staying, we opted to view from the parking lot only. Although there was a lot of activity, there weren’t too many balloons in the air, which was kind of cool because we got to see the work that went into launching the different balloons. We spent about 90 minutes watching the balloon launches and taking photos. We got back in our car and warmed up. Interestingly enough, the tire gauge light wasn’t on this morning. All that worry for nothing.

Photos from Monday, October 5, 2016 outside the 2016 Albuquerque International Balloon Festival. The photos just do not do the experience justice.

The inn where we were staying offered a complimentary breakfast with our stay. So, we headed to their dining room for breakfast. It was then that I was able to take a good look around the grounds of the inn, the courtyard was beautiful and so serene. I would thoroughly enjoy sitting out in their gardens and reading a book (or writing one). It reminded me of a retreat for artists that you see in movies or on television. I would have liked to have stayed a few days. I am super happy that I went a little out of my comfort zone and booked our stay here.

Photo 1: part of the dining area

Photo 2: sitting area outside the room

Photo 3: decor of the dining area

Small Albuquerque Stops

As we left the driveway, the tire pressure light went on again. So, we went in search of a store that might sell a tire gauge. We found a convenience store not far away that had one we could purchase. The passenger side tire was a little low on air. Now, it was time to find a gas station with an air pump. There probably were many, but we drove a bit out of the way (out of Old Towne) to a place that listed that they had a pump. Once all the tires were up to normal, we headed back to Old Town Albuquerque to shop for souvenirs.

Our souvenir search took us to Old Town Emporium. We were able to pick up everything we were looking for: magnets, tee shirts, and key chains. A large municipal parking lot is nearby so there is a good amount of parking. I think you could easily spend several hours walking through the many shops and galleries if you wanted to. I know I wanted to! Several restaurants are in the area as well.

Time to get back on the road and continue our drive west.

 Things I learned from planning this trip: Add a tire pressure gauge to my purse, especially when renting a car. It won’t take up much room and might even be beneficial to check the tire pressure on your rental car before you leave the lot!

Things I keep in mind when organizing a trip for myself: Come back for more. I didn’t feel like I got enough of Albuquerque and would like to spend a few days exploring the area. I would like to see more of the balloon festival too! I’d love to stay at Casa De Suenos again and learn more about the history of the area.

Some information, such as baseball game information and directions were sought by using ChatGPT or Perplexity.

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