We quickly decided that exploring Albuquerque solely by foot just wasn’t going to be enough for us. That meant only one thing: taking to the skies via a hot air balloon. After all, when you’re in the hot air balloon capital of the world, it only makes sense to try it out!

We hadn’t planned on taking a hot air balloon ride in New Mexico, but a last minute decision to cancel our day trip to Santa Fe and a quick phone call to Rainbow Ryders sealed the deal.  We woke up the next morning at 4:45am, ready to start our ballooning adventure.

Here you can see the awesome crew getting the balloons set up and filled with hot air.

Hot Air Balloon

Fire, hot air balloon

We then all piled into the basket, ready to take off. We hovered over trees and skimmed the Rio Grande before ascending to 3,000 feet.

Hot air balloon

Hot air balloon ride

A Cruising Couple, Hot Air Balloon

Albuquerque, hot air balloon

It was absolutely gorgeous, and definitely an experience like no other. But maybe floating effortlessly over endless miles of desert landscape and historic petroglyphs seems boring. The idea of gliding inches above the Rio Grande while gently sailing wherever the winds take you just sounds dull. Then you’re probably looking for something a little more fast-paced to get your heart rate up. Perhaps a ride through the desert in Pat’s corvette would peak your interest?

A Cruising Couple, Corvette

Thanks Pat and Debbie for your awesome hospitality and for making us feel at home during our stay in Albuquerque!!