October 1, 2011 THE BALLOON FIESTA – Day 1

OH MY! WOW! AWESOME!  THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE WHAT WE SAW TODAY.
We all went over to the field to watch Dawn Patrol and the opening ceremonies.  
Dawn Patrol is where 6-10 Balloons are inflated and go off into the dark to check wind speeds.   Once they are in the sky, it looks like someone is turning light bulbs on and off as the pilots light their burners.  Oh my.
Here is some of what we saw with the balloons on the ground.

This blog will be picture intensive so I have uploaded the pictures separately.  You can click on the links:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Mu2adaUSErvi1ZSH7

Dawn Patrol

At the end of the opening ceremonies, our national anthem is sung as the balloon raises our flag (let me tell you how emotional this is…)

 

Then the mass ascension starts.  There was almost 400 balloons filling and lifting off in wave after wave.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ir8XvCTMrmWN8Y3k7

This still remains one of the top things in my life to experience and we are so blessed to be here again…  There are no words to describe this!
This evening after happy hour, we went back to the fiesta for dinner – pork chop on a stick (yum) for Andy and I.  And then we all settled in a spot to watch the filling of the gas balloons for the race – more info here:
http://www.balloonfiesta.com/

Our group:

Gas Balloons Filling – they almost look like aliens:






And then the glow:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/k91ZwwPCEPFjosMbA

We decided not to stay at the field for the fireworks but instead enjoyed them back at the RVs.
What an incredible day!!!

(Note.  I am having a problem uploading the blogs so not sure when these will all be uploaded. Sorry.)