New Mexico / Colorado

[jyoutz]

Believe me, we both appreciated that tip on Colorado Springs, but man, if it's worse going from Colorado Springs to Golden north vs going all the way to Denver, I would really hate to see what it's like going back and forth into Denver.

I see your point on the Albuquerque airport, but since the trip started with the Red rocks concert, made more sense for Colorado Springs, and flying out of there on a Saturday morning wasn't that bad.

I was genuinely surprised the population disparity between Albuquerque and the rest of NM's "cities".

Probably saw more hot air balloon out there then I've ever seen here (and we have a local guy who runs balloon rides in town).

Seem liked every morning someone was landing around Pagosa Springs

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This was going into the Airport at Colorado Springs early Saturday morning

In the west (excluding the coastal states), most states have one or a few metro areas, with the remainder of the state being rural or small towns. And yes hot air balloons are popular in the greater southwest region. Albuquerque hosts the world’s largest balloon festival every October for two weeks.