58
1
They’ve been putting this thing on every year since I was a
kid, and there’s not a single memory that I have of watching
them lift off that doesn’t still give me goose bumps.
Jo and the kids didn’t need much convincing when I
promised such a spectacle at the end of the road. But
asking my entire family to travel to a place that means
so much to me and really nothing at all to them was a
little risky. Add in a 15-hour drive, four kids, and a
4-month-old baby, and I figured there was a chance that
this whole thing could backfire.
Fortunately, everyone thought the balloon fiesta was
absolute magic. As for me, I could hardly believe that
it lived up to the memories I’d been carrying around for
decades. In fact, all of it was still there: the tired,
predawn eyes, the anticipation, the million-dollar view
as hundreds of balloons filled the morning sky.
That weekend was made special not just by the thrill of
watching those balloons take off, but also in the more
mundane moments—driving everyone by the first house I
lived in and the neighborhood office park where my sister
and I rode our bikes. Seeing all of those long-forgotten
yet somehow familiar sights brought a million childhood
stories to mind, and the kids loved hearing each and every
one. I realized that even if my current-day memory of some
of my childhood moments isn’t a hundred percent accurate,
they’re ingrained in who I am, and it was honoring my past
to be able to introduce it to my present. In the process,
my kids gained a clearer understanding of where I came
from and how that influenced our family. I can see how it
might be easy for people to let their pasts fade out of
sight, year after year, content to choose the view ahead
instead of looking in the rearview mirror; but this trip
brought me face-to-face with a lot of memories that have,
over time, slipped from my sight. Stories that began on
those neighborhood streets and on the school playground
are still being told through me, some 40 years later. Even
if it all seems like ancient history, as it turned out,
going back home showed me that not only is this where
I came from, but it also still shapes who I am today.
During our trip, we stopped at some of my favorite local
spots and discovered a few new ones. They’re all listed
here, along with other recommendations that stretch from
Albuquerque through Santa Fe all the way north to the
well-known ski town of Taos.