International Balloon Fiesta, part 2....

Saturday morning broke early and crisp, but we were ready for it. Even Luke was easy to wake and was ready for a little bit of breakfast! So we got dressed, headed downstairs for a quick bite, and piled into the car for what should have been the quick drive to Balloon Fiesta Park. Granted, we were only about 15-minutes away (the closest we could get with all the hotel rooms booked for this event), but we knew that 100,000 extra people all hoping to see the Mass Ascension would make it longer. We wanted to be on the field and at the launch pad of a family member's balloon by 6:30. Lesson learned.

We actually left the hotel around 5:45, 15-minutes later than we wanted to. We were in line for our exit by 6:00....and still about a mile away. We saw the Dawn Patrol (those who go up early to test the wind currents and report to the pilots on the ground) go up, and we knew we were going to miss the ascension from the field. Huge disappointment! But the good thing was that we had a great view from where we were on the freeway. We sat in place for about an hour and were getting anxious. I'm so grateful to have a fantastic little boy who barely gave any complaint. He only got mad about me and Memaw blocking his view! The time did come for the Mass Ascension, and we witnessed it from our spot on the freeway, though we had made it to the edge of the off ramp by now. Jeff and I decided it was safe enough to let Luke out of his car seat and onto Memaw's lap to watch. Afterall, we were lucky to move only a few inches every few minutes, so...yeah. He sat for about 5-minutes before I strapped him back in. We were finally making progress! Just a few more moments and we were finally parked and ready to go.

The view from the field is amazing, so I'm pretty bummed we missed the Mass Ascension from that vantage point, but at least we got to see it!

(Dawn Patrol)
(Mass Ascension)

The different balloons were a lot of fun. There were the standard ones with different colors, but there was also the bumblebees, which kiss at take-off, a cow, a witch, a pond with fish and ducks, Snoopy as the Flying Ace, and the 70th Anniversary of the Wizard of Oz balloon. The list goes on, of course, but it was really cool to watch them land. Brought back some memories from elementary school when we had a balloon land in our playground, and also taught me some new lessons.

(Pigs can fly!)
(Great Horned Owl)
(The Pond)

(Wizard of Oz)

(Snoopy the Flying Ace)

(Holstein Dairy Cow)

(Ladybug)

The really cool part about watching these guys fly and land was the realization of how similar it is to sailing! Both rely on the wind, but not too much wind, both require special skills to navigate properly, and both are much harder than they look. That's the easy rundown, but it gives you the idea. It definitely gave me a whole new appreciation, and being that this is aerial navigation, I like it even more!

We took the time to see the venders, visit the mounted police unit, the FBI crew that was there with some REALLY fun toys, watch the police and sheriff's helicopters both land and take-off from the field, and just take in the whole scene. The cousin we had hoped to watch launch from his pad had landed near the Rio Grande, so we had to wait for his crew to get him packed up and back to the park before we could say hi. Once he made it, we had a short visit. He had a busy weekend and not a whole lot of time to goof off with us, which was to be expected. Luke collected a couple of cards (like trading cards) and a sticker from a few of the various crews, which he thought was cool. His real treasure, though, came in the form of his very own balloon made in the same manner as a beach ball. It did come time for us to take a break and head back for lunch and a quick rest before the evening activities, and all the balloons were currently on the ground, so we left around 1:00. Luke, knowing we were done for a bit and there was nothing exciting to see at the moment, promptly closed his eyes and was out for a nap. He even slept through lunch at the restaurant! He woke up in time for us to grab a 30-minute nap at the hotel, but Papa was kind enough to entertain him. Then it was back to the park for the evening festivities.....

(Leave it to me to find the horses..visiting with a "giant Jack," one of the multiple Percherons the Sheriff's office uses for mounted patrol)

(playing in the gun turret of the FBI armored vehicle on sight. I'm still a tomboy at heart and love big toys!)

(waving at the Sheriff's helo taking off, Luke loved this)

(hugging his "checkered flag" balloon)

(sound asleep for a nap...he had a big morning!)