5:00 AM: "We are going to be late if you don’t hurry”. I get woken up by the wife with the usual alarm. On any other morning I'd have shrugged off the panic and tried to sneak in a few more minutes of sleep – but not today. Its one of the, no, the only non-gastronomic activity we have planned in Albuquerque. If you’ve guessed it- you are right. It’s the day for the Hot Air Balloon ride. Our first. And so we are going to put to test the notion that any first trip to Albuquerque is incomplete without a hot air balloon ride. We check the weather forecast, all is clear.