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A burrito devoured. A cinnamon roll swallowed. Maybe two. All washed down with cup after cup after cup of coffee or cocoa.

And after the balloon gawkers' bellies are full, they all need somewhere to, you know, go.

For the last four years - and for at least three more to come - balloon fiesta officials have turned to AAA Pumping Service to help the 100,000 or so people crowding the field each year answer nature's call.

"That's a lot of toilet paper," says balloon fiesta field manager Sam Baxter.

Four hundred portable toilets with 70-gallon tanks will flank and dot the 365-acre field at Balloon Fiesta Park this year.

Well, 401.

"We were the first company to bring in luxury restroom trailers," says Mike Krepfl, who owns the Albuquerque company. "They have full-flushing toilets, sinks, air-conditioning, heating, stereo systems.

"There's one at the Gondola Club."

For fiesta-goers who don't shell out $100 a ticket for the balloon fiesta's VIP tent, the other 400 Porta Potties are still "upscale," Krepfl says.

They have hand sanitizers.

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the biggest portable toilet event in the state, organizers say.

Getting the contract, Krepfl says, is huge. The company normally charges $192.38 a day for each toilet, but Baxter didn't divulge what the fiesta is paying for its rentals.

"It's a competitive business, there's no doubt about that," he says. "There have been a lot of companies doing the balloon fiesta in the past."

Krepfl says the key to keeping the contract is cleanliness.

The toilets are "serviced" twice a day, when the crowds dissipate between events. (After Balloon Glows, toilet-cleaning crews work from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.)

A typical service includes pumping the toilets clean, using a high-pressure washer inside and out, adding five gallons of deodorizing water to the tank, a towel-dry, restocking toilet paper and a spritz of air freshener.

"We want to make it smell nice as well," Krepfl says.

Krepfl, 33, isn't alone in his efforts. AAA - which began as a septic-tank cleaning service and now has 1,250 portable toilets - has 25 employees, including his co-owner brother, Phil.

"My family's owned the business since the Õ50s, actually," he says. "We're third-generation."

The company is also in charge of pumping the tanks and supplying potable water for the 1,000 RVs on the field.

Krepfl insists the job isn't as dirty as one would think.

"Not if you have the right equipment," he says.

And he offers anyone truly interested a ride-along. "If you really want to get a taste of it, come out and go with us."

Krepfl is the first to admit some things about his career are unpleasant.

"There have been some people dropping keys and cell phones and eyeglasses, and they actually have requested that when the toilet is pumped out, if we could please give them back," he says.

Field manager Baxter says fiesta officials have also been asked to retrieve personal items from the abyss.

"Some guys come out with a blue hand," he says. "But would you really use a cell phone that's been in a Porta Potty?"

Krepfl prefers to use a pair of long tongs to fish for items. Sometimes, though, things aren't found until it's time to pump the toilet.

"We've actually mailed them (personal items) to visitors from out of state," he says. "We put it in a little plastic bag and ship it."

Baxter says he received a letter from a lady from the East Coast "thanking us immensely for providing a little ledge for her purse," not knowing what the urinal was for.

Baxter acknowledged her gratitude, but he didn't want to be the one to educate her.

"Another lady from Texas said she didn't know how to flush it," Baxter says with a laugh. "She called her husband to ask him."

To be sure, dealing with portable toilets for a living is no easy task.

But the part of the job that bothers Krepfl most isn't the pumping, the fishing, the cleaning or even the 80-hour workweek during the fiesta.

It's "inconsiderate" users.

"One of the biggest problems is vandalism," he says. "Porta Potties are a necessary thing at outdoor events, but people don't respect them. They throw their trash in them or tear them up, and then they complain that they're dirty."

His staff roams the field during events to check the toilets to make sure they are well-stocked with toilet paper and sanitizer, and are trash- and graffiti-free.

"If people would have common courtesy with Porta Potties," he begins. "Don't throw garbage in them or on the floor. Don't write their boyfriend's name on the side of the wall. We take pride in what we do, and if they can do their part, it makes a cleaner facility for everybody."

"It is a battle."