Balloon Fiesta - Thursday thru Sunday

Favorite Photo:

Schedule for Thursday:

• 6 AM - Dawn Patrol
• 7 AM - Special Shapes Rodeo
• 8 AM - Fly in Competition

• 5 PM - Skydiving
• 6 PM - Special Shapes Glowdeo
• 7:30 PM - Skydiving
• 8 PM - Fireworks

Navigator (Volunteer) Schedule:

• 4-9 PM - Shuttle Drivers (Nancy & Al)

I've been waiting for this day for a year.  Last year when we attended the event as guests, we arrived on Special Shapes day but it was too windy for the balloons to inflate.  I purposely did not schedule us to work the morning shift so we were free to enjoy the session.  It did not disappoint!

Every morning of the event before the sun comes up there is a pilots briefing on the opposite side of the field from Main Street.  There the pilots are provided with information for the sessions' events.

Many of the pilots give out pins or trading cards to promote the sport.  I only caught the last of the briefing this morning but heard a story about a pilot giving a trading card to a man high up in the Catholic church one day.  A year or so later, the pilot was at the Vatican in Rome and met with the same church member and the church member remembered the pilot because of his trading card.  You never know how far a reach the good will spreads! 

Pilots' Briefing

After Dawn Patrol, the special shaped balloons began inflating and lifting off.  Here are just some of them.

Peg Leg Pete from Mahomet, Illinois

Humpty Dumpty from Louisville, Kentucky

Sushi from Dayton, Nevada and
Rocket the Flying Squirrel from Newport Beach, California

Buzzy Bee from Ashland, Missouri

La Rista from Salt Lake City, Utah

Tomcat from Longmont, Colorado,
????,
Yellow Bird from Indalantic, Florida,
????

Allyconn from Lake George, New York

A crowd favorite!

Oons Kearlke and Oons Wiefke from Quebec, Canada

One of my favorites!
I loved his cowboy boots!

Scorch from North Brunswick, New Jersey

Balloonaful Sunrise from Phoenix, Arizona

Sarah the Witch from Glendale, Arizona

Con Air from Czech Republic

Lighthouse from Great Britain

Bud E. Beaver from Belgrade, Montana

Princess Nelly from Belguim and
Sunny Boy from Kingsport, Tennessee

Smurf from Belguim

Anne the Ladybug from Allen, Texas and
Spyderpig from Poplar Bluff, Missouri

Pirate Jack from Newport Beach, California

The remaining balloons waiting to lift off

Photo Booth Fun
Nancy, Al, Linda, and Randy

For the evening shift we were shuttle drivers which meant we drove around in golf carts taking guests of the Gondola Club to where ever they wanted to go. 

Schedule for Friday:

• 6 AM - Dawn Patrol
• 7 AM - Special Shapes Rodeo
• 8 AM - Fly in Competition

• 5 PM - Skydiving
• 6 PM - Special Shapes Glowdeo
• 7:30 PM - Skydiving
• 8 PM - Fireworks

Navigator (Volunteer) Schedule:

• 4:30 - 10 AM - Table Host (Nancy) and Shuttle Driver (Al)

This morning was our last official shift.  Hallelujah, we can put away that alarm clock!

This morning was another special shapes event.  After the session was over, we took a nap and then waited to meet up with some friends.  

We knew that Jack and Chris, a couple we met back in March 2017, were going to be at the Fiesta this year. We met them at a rally in Tucson, Arizona while we were learning as much as we could about our new lifestyle and before we bought our trailer.  They were so kind to let us tour their Class A motorhome so we could see what one looked like lived in.  We've met up with them a couple of times since.  We enjoyed seeing them again and swapping stories now that we are on the road. 

Al, Nancy, Jack, and Chris

I realized I hadn't take any photos of inside the Gondola Club tent so here shows the buffet area with some tables and a carving station behind.  I was surprised how delicious the food was all week!

Then we attended the Special Shapes Glowdeo in the evening.  At the Glowdeo, the balloons inflate but do not lift.  At intervals many of the pilots "candle stick" their balloons so make them glow from inside.

Ham-let from DeLand, Florida

Cosmos I from Fort Worth, Texas
This one is so tall and I've never seen him lift off!

Here is some more info on Cosmos I:
https://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/cosmos_balloon.html

Beagle Maxxamus from Albuquerque, New Mexico

Te Amo from Salt Lake City, Utah

This couple just got married on the field and among the special shape balloons.

Con Air from Czech Republic and
Keystone Willy 2 from Owasso, Oklahoma

HYLA the Frog from the United Kingdom,
 Infamous Foot from Reno, Nevada and
Walkin' on Air from Chandler, Texas

Saxon from Brazil

Off the Wall from Reno, Nevada
Another one of my favorites!

Smiley Scarecrow from Westfield, Indiana

Big Hug and Woozi (robot) from Brazil 

Saguaro Grande from Marana, Arizona

These photos show how close we were to the balloon field!

Schedule for Saturday:

• 6 AM - Dawn Patrol
• 6:30 AM - Morning Glow
• 7 AM - Mass Ascension

• 5 PM - Skydiving
• 6 PM - Balloon Glow
• 7:30 PM - Skydiving
• 8 PM - Fireworks

Navigator (Volunteer) Schedule:

• No Shifts

On Saturday we didn't have any official shifts to work but we checked in at the Gondola Club to see if they needed help.  The guys hopped on golf carts and shuttled guests to help out.

The next photo contains Liz and Heather who were our "bosses" during the event.  Liz over saw inside the Gondola Club and Heather took care of the club shuttles and parking lots.

Linda, Liz, Heather, and Al

In the afternoon, we attended party #4 where the Hot Air Awards were given out.  The awards were for the various competitions held during the week.  This event was also catered with more yummy food.  We did not go hungry during the event!

After a rest it was time for the last evening session.

True-Lee New Mexico from Gallup, New Mexico

Check out these short videos of the Glowdeo:
https://youtu.be/48mSF8NUEbU   (18 seconds)
https://youtu.be/M1njF-8U8QY   (12 seconds)
https://youtu.be/h1XTgGXo1XM    (14 seconds)


Schedule for Sunday:

• 6 AM - Dawn Patrol
• 6:30 AM - Morning Glow
• 7 AM - Farewell Mass Ascension

Navigator (Volunteer) Schedule:

• No Shifts

This morning's session was the last session of the event and boy was it spectacular!

 

It was such a beautiful day that even the Wells Fargo Wagon Balloon lifted off!

The Fiesta ended and all the RV's started heading on to their next destinations.  We stayed until Monday and a few more balloons lifted off and flew over our trailer Monday morning to wish us safe travels.

Our crew:  Mike, Joie, Randy, Linda, Nancy, Al, and Ryley

Time to say goodbye to the Fiesta!

We had such a great time as Navigator's with our friends and the new people we met.  It's a definite bucket list item if you're able to attend.  Make sure you stay for at least a few days in case the weather cancels or limits a session's events.  We expect to be back again next year!

Sorry for so many photos but you can't believe how many I took and didn't include in the blog!


Our friends, Joie & Mike made a YouTube video of the event.  See if you can find us in our supporting roles!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZiJzZ08QuM

We're going to head a little north, take a week, visit some friends we met last year and catch up on some sleep.