RIO RANCHO, N.M. — More than 70 hot air balloons will fill the skies in Rio Rancho for the Friends and Lovers Rally this Valentine’s Day weekend.
The Friends and Lovers Rally has been going on for more than 50 years between Albuquerque and Rio Rancho. For the second year in a row, the rally is in Rio Rancho but the mission is the same as it always has been.
“Balloon Fiesta earlier in the year is a big thing for pilots and Friends and Lovers is really about the crew. So we would like to give back to the crews and we do that through flights and events throughout the weekend,” said Will Wadsworth, president of the Albuquerque Aerostat Ascension Association. “For this rally, we have both a small pilot pack and a larger crew pack that the crews get. And that’s really just to show our appreciation, because pilots couldn’t fly without their crews.”…