Final day at Fiesta

We again waited in the coach for the yellow flag to turn to green, layered up good for  the coldest morning yet, and walked over to the edge of the bluff for what turned out to be the most spectacular display of all!  Mention had been made of "the box", that is created by the winds at lower elevation  traveling in one direction, and those above in the opposite, and we got to see it first hand!  Perhaps  the balloonists anticipated it this morning, because what would have been a minor launch on a Monday morning brought out hundreds of balloons.  And it was spectacular!

 

As the sun comes over the ridge, some of the balloons start to catch the light. 

They start lifting off quickly, and yet moving more slowly than we have witnessed, making them great to watch and photograph.  

And we clearly see "the box" as they take off and move toward the museum, go up, and move back toward us. So neat!

Hey, turn around and let me get your faces!  

                 

 I really do like the Darth Vader Balloon, plus our Granddaughters like him, so I got lots of photos to share!

One of our friends surmised there might be a fourth bee next year!  

A few drifted behind us and stood out against the Sandia Mountains, and the peak where we had been days before. 

A Flight Competition was listed as the event for the morning, and we soon saw a big X layed out, and balloons maneuvering down over it, the object being to throw their banner closest to the spot without touching the ground.  

We thought this was a practice run, but apparently he was just coming in for a landing! First time we have seen that, as they have been landing farther afield. 

This guy was so close, he just leaned out and dropped his mark!