11/04/2011

November 3, 2011 – Balloons, Page, and Movies

 Today was the start of the Page Balloon Regatta and the event was taking place at many of the schools around the town.  This is similar to Albuquerque Aloft in that it gives many children a chance to see balloons up close and personal and learn about them as well.

Since Mike and T were not here, we first decided to watch and then we got involved.

The view from our site – sunrise:

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And they are off:

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We then took off in the Tracker to see if we could help and even get more pictures:

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Andy, Steve and Pam helped with this Balloon – they put “weight on” as another person hopped in and the away he went again:

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Another one that was helped – they went back up to land another place:

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We then saw that the wind was bringing the balloons over the Elks so back home we went.   And this one came in for a landing:

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So we all helped bring him in and pack him up – the pilot’s nickname was “Burner” – how funny.   He told us he needed crew but we are committed – oh well.

From there we went to one of the local schools and watched this balloon.  It was tethered and giving rides.   This is an incredible story – the woman who owns this balloon goes to various schools and gives tethered rides to handicapped children.  How inspirational!

 

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What an exciting morning.

Later this afternoon, we walked into town, had supper and saw the movie “Dolphin Tail” (great film!).  We finished our evening with a nightcap at the Elks.

Another wonderful day.

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