Balloon Fiesta Update and Photos

Friday, October 5th, many of balloon pilots went to various elementary schools in the area and inflated the balloons so the kids and teachers could come and experience hot air balloons up close and personal. We got there when it was still dark and inflated the balloon. It was great to see the children’s expressions watching them go up and Scott and Keralyn gave out balloon cards to the students. These are sort of like baseball cards, only they have a picture of the balloon on one side and the name of the pilot and information about the balloon on the back of the card. Almost all pilots have cards and they pass them out throughout the Balloon Fiesta.

Saturday, October 6th, was opening day of the Balloon Fiesta. I got up at 4 a.m. and went down to the field and ate breakfast. I met Scott, the pilot, and we went to the pilot’s briefing. The upper winds were really strong, in excess of 20 mph so the balloons were not allowed to fly. So, I went to do my volunteer work at the Balloon Discovery Center.

In the early evening, the balloons were allowed to inflate and tether and stand up. After about half an hour or so, we brought the balloon down and packed it in the bag getting it ready for the next day. It was really awesome to see the balloons glow when it was dark, however, it’s not easy to get photos. You can go to my story and click on the photo album links from last year to see more balloon photos. Here are pictures in album 1 which includes my balloon ride and photos from the air, and album 2 from this year, and album 3 the final day of Balloon Fiesta.

On Sunday, the balloons were allowed to inflate and fly. I helped Scott and the crew set up the balloon and get it inflated. Then I went to do my volunteer time at the balloon discovery center again. I am doing several shifts during the 9 day event.

On Monday morning, we went to the pilot’s briefing and found out that the winds aloft were stronger than they were on Saturday morning. Instead of cancelling the flights they delayed making a decision until a little later in the morning. Briefing is at 6:15 a.m. when it’s still cold and dark.

It turns out that after the sun came up, the winds died down a bit and the balloons were allowed to inflate and fly. I got more pictures and will post them to a new photo album. There are many new balloons this year that were not here last year. Such as an Elvis look alike, an ice cream cone, a new zebra balloon, and many others.

I am not able to insert many photos into this post at this time, so I will just upload them to an album. I will continue to take pictures during the remainder of the event, and post them as I can. I hope you like looking at them.

It’s been cold here in the mornings, about 36 degrees, but it warms up into the 70s.

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