12/10/2019 - Roswell → Albuquerque → Santa Fe / USA (433 kilometers)

In Roswell, not only Americans live, but also many extraterrestrial beings. They are everywhere, observing humans. There is an extraterrestrial employee in the Visitor Center, and even the street lamps have their heads. A pretty crazy city. And why all this? In July 1947, an unknown flying object is said to have crashed near the city. The United States Army reported at the time that the debris found belonged to a crashed weather balloon with a radar reflector. There are various conspiracy theories by believers that a flying saucer and alien bodies were found, secretly investigated by the US government, and are still being hidden today. The city is shaped by the Roswell Incident. We visited the lovingly furnished UFO Museum and learned about the history and stories of the event.
We continued driving at 12 o'clock. We had 200 miles ahead of us and already had an appointment in Albuquerque at 3 pm. We arrived on time, and our shuttle bus left for the festival grounds shortly after 3 pm. Every October, Albuquerque hosts the Balloon Fiesta. 550 balloons and 650 pilots from all over the world attended the huge festival. Among the 886,307 visitors were also us. So far, we could only see the balloons as souvenirs or on postcards. There were plenty of food and drink stands, tree trunks were artistically carved with chainsaws and auctioned off, and there was a big quiz where the whole family could collect knowledge and colorful stamps. In the sky, we could watch skydivers paint the American flag in the air and elegantly come back to the ground. The setup of the balloons began shortly before sunset. At first, we could only see one balloon, and then there were more and more. The balloons are not allowed to ascend at night, so they stayed on the ground, and we were surrounded by colorful filled balloons, and the great glow began. It was an incredibly impressive experience, with a great atmosphere during sunset. After dark, the illuminated skydivers performed a show and heralded a sparkling fireworks display.
An eventful day ends with a drive to Santa Fe and a short night.