Up, Up and AWAY????

Well, as events go... it was leaving a lot to be desired. 

It also wore me out. 

Friday, we had high winds all day.  Balloons cannot inflate in high winds. 

At 3, there was a big meeting of all the pilots in the theater at the 

National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame 

There was to be a "glow" that evening, when the balloons 

inflate while tethered, and then the pilots burn their burners in succession... 

creating this effect: 

There was a tent in front of Angry Bird. 

That's just an example. 

Before all this... 

There were  200 people at a time in the line to ride the train... and 

people marching back and forth all day.  There were vendor tents set up to the right. 

Free hayrides were also being given. 

People had to be directed to portable potties, as the septic system 

could not hold this many. 

People had to park quite a distance away. 

There was not enough signage.  The event planners learned from all this, 

and I hope the Ag Hall did, too. 

It was chilly, cloudy and breezy, and it ended up 

that the balloons could not inflate.  They burned the burners, 

but people were (to put it mildly) very disappointed, and 

vocal about it. 

Saturday morning, this was going on, and I had a chance to 

go out and take some pictures... I loved them!

I never did understand if it was balloon crews flying these, or whom. 

Jellyfish! 

They were beautiful, even though skies were still cloudy. 

It was also breezy, at 14 mph... and again, the pilots met. 

They had had to cancel their competition for Saturday morning because of the winds, so they 

decided if it went down to 10 or under, they would inflate and do the glow. 

Dusk fell, and the wind cooperated. 

And the balloons began to inflate. 

The crowd grew and grew and grew.  

And grew. 

I got better pictures of the trees and sunset than I did of the balloons, I was 

behind so many and they were uphill. 

So, they inflated and were something to see. 

The pilots take turns burning their burners, so that the glow 

hops all around. 

It was beautiful, but the crowd... surging and pushing. 

I left at 7, worn out... and as I inched out of the circular drive, 

there were hundreds of people trudging up the hill. 

It turned out that some of those people trudging up in the dark were turned away... the grounds were filled. 

Yesterday morning, I was worn out.  

I did get up and get the paper, and sat at the dining room table to 

read it.  From time to time, I looked up at the horizon to the south. 

It was a clear, beautiful morning. 

Pretty soon... I saw two balloons in the distance, about 7 miles away. 

I needed to be at church at 10:30, but it was only 8:50, so I went about 5 miles 

to take some pictures. 

It was fun to think of the pilots we had seen for two days up in the air, going where the wind 

(in this case S x SW) took them. 

They drifted, one after the other. 

Until they were disappearing. 

I decided after all to run down to the Ag Hall. 

Only one balloon was left, and it was inflating. 

But suddenly... something was wrong. 

They ended up deflating it and rolling it up.  Sometimes, discretion IS 

the better part of valor.  This is the beautiful balloon pictured glowing above. 

I stopped on the way to take a picture of the beautiful bluffs along Stranger Creek. 

And of this beautiful bird on a wire above me. 

I'm worn out, I admit it.  

I was glad to get home from church, and walk the dogs, and then 

rest during the afternoon. 

I have some nice pictures from early this morning that I'll share with you 

tomorrow.