Sunday, July 24, 2011

Full of Hot Air!

Last weekend I found out that about 30 minutes north of us there is a Hot Air Balloon Festival held each year. There is tons of stuff to do, but I was really interested in what they call the Balloon Glow. So, I dragged Jeremy along on another photo adventure.

We were supposed to pay $8 per car to enter, but apparently since we got there at the tail end of the evening, we got a free pass! Come to find out, they were worried they wouldn't be able to do the glow because of the winds. See, winds are great for flying a balloon, but not so much for making it sit on the ground, stationary.

This balloon was called the flying purple people eater....ala "One Eyed, One Horned Flying Purple People Eater....sure looks strange to me!" (Please tell me that song is now stuck in your head too)

I loved seeing the HUGE flames to create the hot air to inflate the balloon.

They had to do the glow when they could get the balloons up, so anytime anyone got theirs up and stable, we would count down and they would GLOW!
Almost all lit up!

This was one of my favorites and stayed lit for most of the show.
All 5 lit up!

Then at the very end, skydivers with pyrotechnics....fireworks in normal terms....on their FEET came down from the sky. Yep, as if skydiving wasn't enough of a thrill, they had to attach exploding balls of fire to their feet. Hmmmmm, wonder if I could do that tandem??? :)