Chase Crew - not.

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

Albuquerque

We were so excited at the prospect of the upcoming Balloon Fiesta! We’d signed up to be chase crew, and had bought tickets for the VIP Gondola Club as a prime location to watch three events. Today we went to check out the grounds, pick our first observation point for the mass ascension the next morning, and to take the required chase crew orientation.

This is one of the reasons I’m embarrassed to have taken so long to catch up on the blog – when we went to the chase crew movie and orientation, we found that first, there was no way that I could handle the job physically, and second, we were expected to crew each event. When we had filled out the application, we specified two events that we would like to work – we were there to enjoy the entire show, not work our butts off the whole time. Apparently, lot of people had that problem – and the organizers insist that the app did not actually offer those alternatives…interesting, since each event was listed and offered a place to check to say yes or no to work. Oh well. That part aside, even though I might have been able to help out with the set up and chase and packing up if everything went smoothly, I knew that I was not up to responding in an emergency situation. And I’m still not comfortable admitting that I’m no longer capable of handling such things. So we emailed our assigned pilot and told him we’d had a mechanical problem with the RV and didn’t know when we’d be getting to town. The fact that I was having troubles with my water heater and electrical system made me feel a little less guilty. But I hated doing it, and it embarrasses me even more now because he and his family have been very concerned and understanding, and have since written to hope we had made out OK.

Anyway, we drove all over the area, and picked the ‘perfect’ location to watch the first lift off the next morning!


Sooz had some friends passing thru town, so we met them for an early dinner at a really tacky looking Mexican restaurant that turned out to be superb, as so many little Mexican restaurants can do! We ate too much and laughed a whole lot! Delightful evening!