We’d like to trade our usual Monday morning experience in for this one, please. Welcome to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico. The festival continues through October 14, with plenty of on-the-ground entertainment beyond those balloon rides that might take you east of the city, to the foothills of the Sandia Mountains, seen in this photo. Many hot air balloon rides offer a champagne toast as part of the experience. The champagne tradition may have sprung from early balloon pilots having to land in farm fields on private property. Aeronauts began carrying champagne or other drinks with them to offer to the confused and sometimes angry landowners. You’re welcome to land in our backyard anytime, balloonists!
Float on
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Busy building wetlands
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It s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
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In the valley of the doll
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Happy trees = Clean air
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Hippo family in Chobe National Park, Botswana
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Pamukkale, Turkey
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Jackie Robinson Day
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Smoking nights in Austria
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Every day is Napping Day for this screech owl
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‘The mountains are calling’
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Raise your hand for Teacher Appreciation Day
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Notre-Dame Cathedral reopens
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A midsummer twilight s dream
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Dreaming of the Tyrrhenian Sea
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The glowing waters of the Matsu Islands
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A crested partridge
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Mardi Gras flower power
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A medieval celebration in the Mediterranean
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Looking down on the Otter
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The mighty, mighty mushroom
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A light on National Hispanic Heritage Month
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New Year s Day
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Where do those colors come from?
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Squirrel Appreciation Day
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Talk like a pirate—or walk the plank
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A long winter’s nap, perhaps?
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Guilin and Lijiang River National Park, China
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A tribute to the ancestors
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC
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Festival of British Archaeology