Kelly and Mike's RVing/Traveling Adventures: October 5th - 7th

October 5– First Day of Fiesta and Crewing

There are over 600 balloons here for the Fiesta, the largest gathering in one place in the U.S. and possibly the world. Balloons come from all over because of the great winds here.

I volunteered to crew and had to find my pilot. He was located in the W5 section of the launch field. This is at the very opposite end of where you enter. It is well over a half mile walk from the field entry gate. We were told to be there at 6:30 a.m. for the Mass Assention. I met with two fellow crew members in the RV Park at 5:30 a.m. We waited for the bus to pick us up and take us to the launch field which is a mile away from the campground. After waiting for a while we decided to walk there. The car parking lot on the corner for day visitors was already filled. As we arrived at the field entrance gate we had to be scanned and our bags checked. (I wish there was that much security at the Perry County Courthouse.)

We proceeded to the admission gate where our tickets were scanned. It is $10.00 per morning session and $10.00 per evening session to get on the balloon launch field. All crew members get into all sessions free all week. We were admitted and walked through the massive crowd to the other end to meet our pilot. Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days and there are a crazy amount of people on the field. I would have taken a picture of the crowd but it was dark. Last year they say that 860,000 people attended. Seeing the crowds I believe it.

My pilot is Brian Taylor from Columbia, Missouri. He had one crew member with him so he was really relying on us volunteers to help. Before dawn there is a "Dawn Patrol" which is six balloons which launch in the dark to help predict the wind conditions. Brian said the elite of the elite are picked to fly at night. After the Dawn Patrol took off and once it got light out they played "The Star Spangled Banner". On the last note all the balloonists put full fuel to their burners, even if not connected to their balloons yet. It was really cool. Here is a picture of those near us.

Due to the huge number of balloons the whole process of launching is choreographed by sections. Pilots are told when they can launch by "Zebras". These are volunteers who are assigned to different sections. Here is a picture of our "Zebra". A super nice guy who enjoyed his job.

They are told by radio from the "balloonmeister" what areas can take off next.

We started the work of readying the gondola and unfolding the balloon (called the envelope). It is then inflated with a huge fan that is powered by a lawn mower engine. We inflated and were waiting for our turn to launch when out of nowhere the weather changed and a huge morning fog rolled in. Here is a picture of the fog moving in.

After about an hour all launches were cancelled for the day because of it. We then took the balloon down and packed it up. We were done until the evening session. Here is picture of me hanging out by our balloon.

One lady posted later in the day that we witnessed history. In the 45 years she has been coming here fog never rolled in like that before.

I walked to the other end of the field and stood in line for twenty minutes for a bus ride back to the RV Park but one never came so I walked back. I got back to Marge about 10:00 a.m. and was beat after being on my feet for four hours plus walking over two miles there and back.

We were told by friends that Costco had a ticket sale for members. We could buy four tickets for $28.00. (Normally $10.00 each). I got on line and ordered some for Kelly. I thought we could just use our phones for the bar codes on the tickets but they had to be printed out. Of course we don’t carry a printer with us so we had to hunt up a friend who printed them for us.

At four o’clock there was a meeting and Happy Hour at the Hosts’ rig. After attending it we grabbed a little supper and caught the bus to the launch field. We had plenty of time to get there carrying our bag chairs and backpack. We got the balloon up and inflated and the glow proceeded. They did long blasts of flames then short blasts. It was really cool. I took a video but it is just too long to download so here is a picture.

We were just all hanging out by the balloon when out of nowhere a blast of cold air came in and blew our balloon off center to the point that it was going down. Brian was in the basket and told us where he wanted to lay the balloon down. We all had to hustle to get chairs and other items out of the way that could puncture the envelope. We then helped guide the balloon down, get all the air out of it, and pack it up. Brian said we all worked wonderfully as a team and prevented a catastrophe. About that time skydivers were dropped up over the field and they were shooting fireworks off as they slowly descended. It was quite impressive but I couldn't get a good picture of it because they were so far away. No pictures of the balloon going down because we were all in panic mode.

The evening ended with a fireworks display. They went off from the opposite direction everyone was expecting. We turned our chairs around and watched. It was a wonderful display. It stopped and all of a sudden fireworks started in back of us, then they started again in front of us. It was like duelling fireworks displays. It was really cool. They had a lot of types of fireworks I had never seen before. It was a great end of the first day. The line to catch a bus back to the RV Park was huge so Kelly and I just walked back with a couple of fellow Escapee Boomers camped near us.

Sunday Brian wanted us there again at 6:30 a.m. By the time I got a bus and walked there because of the crowds I was late but it didn’t matter because we were the last in the waves of balloons to launch. It was much colder Sunday morning but a beautiful day for flying and hundreds of balloons took off. Many went right over our heads. Brian was having trouble with his burner so decided not to fly and to try and get it fixed for Monday's flight. We were in an area of about six Missouri pilots and the fellow next to us took off. I jumped in with his chase crew. He landed in the field behind our RV Park so I could help with the balloon and also get a ride back. Because of the crazy amount of traffic the cops only allow traffic to go in one direction. Even though we were a chase crew we could not go the direction we needed to go to pick him up. We had to drive miles around in a big circle and come in the opposite side of the RV Park. When we found him he already had the balloon down and deflated thanks to some kids who were watching nearby. He said he let them help because they were local kids and had crewed before. There are lots of rules about how you handle the envelope so that you don't damage it. We got his rig packed up and loaded and I walked back to Marge which was only about a thousand feet away. Kelly watched all of them landing from Marge and said one came over only about twenty feet above Marge. Pretty cool.

Sunday we had a Happy Hour at 4:00 p.m. at the campground. My pilot did not inflate Sunday evening and we did not go back to the field to watch. I watched the fireworks from the campground.

Monday morning I was up on time, made coffee and headed to catch the bus. The weekend was over so the crowds are way down. The bus came immediately, there was no line at the admission area and no crowds walking to the other end of the field. I ended up getting to the balloon at 6:02 a.m. I was glad I made some coffee to bring and my chair to sit in. I watched the "Dawn Patrol" take off once again.

When everyone arrived Brian told us he would be competing today and we would not take off from the field but would find a place in town where to launch from. He would then fly the balloon back to the field to try and toss a bean bag close to a marker to get points. We all took off with the other Missouri pilots to find a place to launch. We ended up on a cul-de-sac in a subdivision. All the residents came out to watch as we set up the balloons one at a time. Our biggest problem was keeping the balloons from catching on the chain link fence. We all helped out. Here is a picture of one balloon getting inflated.

This cul-de-sac was half the size of the one I live on in Perryville and we were all on the left pushing the balloon away from that fence. Brian was the last to go up so we pretty well knew what to do at that point. All the residents and kids on the street were out taking pictures. I told one kid he was going to be late for school and he said "you bet". He was having a ball. I couldn't get any pictures until Brian took off with one crew member. Here is a picture.

They pushed the basket off that bush as they went up. Here they go on up from the launch site.

We then piled into the van and started the chase. We knew the direction he was headed but needed to try and keep him in our sites. As you can see there were dozens of balloons in the area at the time. The winds did not cooperate and Brian couldn't compete because he didn't make it back to the field. He landed in the field behind our RV, literally about 1000 feet from Marge. Here are a couple of pictures as they came down as we arrived.

We got the envelope deflated and everything packed up until tomorrow. I am hoping the weather is good tomorrow and that I will get to go up! Brian is going to compete again tomorrow. The flight today was about 45 minutes. Perfect weather.

After eating some lunch we headed to the Petroglyph National Monument and learned about all the petroglyphs in the area. All sites had about two mile trails in so that was out for us.

)Our Escapees Boomers group is going to a big winery for supper. If we hadn't signed up to go I would go back to the field tonight to watch them launch "gas balloons" which will leave and compete for distance they can go. Some have gone as far as South Carolina from HERE. Crazy stuff.

I can't get a picture of the size of this event from the ground. Here is a picture someone posted from the sky. It gives you a little idea of what a big deal this is in the world of ballooning.