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At Balloon Fiesta, romance flies high
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Monica Roberts remembers her first date with her husband, Mike, 30 years ago — a trip to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta that has now become a yearly tradition for the couple.
“It was puppy love,” Roberts said.
Roberts said she and her husband — who now have five kids and one grandchild — took a photo on that first Balloon Fiesta date when they were just teenagers. They have taken a photo each year at Balloon Fiesta since in the same pose.
“Our style has changed, our hair has changed, our weight has changed and the kids, you can see them as they progress,” Roberts said.
The Robertses are not alone in celebrating old school romance at the Balloon Fiesta.
Melissa Meyer and her husband celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary this year while blowing up a special shape hot air balloon, dubbed Carnival, on Thursday.
The couple from North Carolina recalled first coming to the Balloon Fiesta in 1998 just two years after her husband got into ballooning.
“We were high school sweethearts,” said Meyer, who owns the ballooning company Balloons Over America with her husband.
Meyer said her husband, a retired Army pilot, wanted an aircraft of his own. But it “was something we just really couldn’t afford to do,” she said. That led to a friend suggesting the couple get into ballooning. They took their three daughters on a ride, and the rest is history.
Carnival, showcased on Thursday, is three-sided with each side revealing a different clown face. It weighs 567 pounds — more than double the size of their more classic-style balloon that weighs 250 pounds.
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Meyer said the ballooning community is small , with just a few thousand active pilots in the U.S. That has made the hobby a family affair among their four children and two grandchildren.
It’s also a family passion for the Robertses.
Roberts said she and her family have biked to the Balloon Fiesta the past couple of years from their Sandia Heights home.
“It must look like an entourage because we had all of our daughters biking behind us,” said Roberts.
She said after the event, they bike down to her mother’s North Valley home where they finish the day by spending time with family.
“For us, it really represents our story and our love,” said Roberts.
