Being on a Balloon Crew

Our third morning of the balloon fiesta it was hard to set that alarm again.  But by now we are addicted to watching those big balloons arise and launch into the sky.  So we are awake and ready to see the first twinkles of the night patrol as we walk toward the launch field area.  We recognized the balloon of Laura's friend from Oklahoma City that was part of the Dawn Patrol in the dark again this morning.

Again, we think the grassy area behind the balloon museum is a great place to watch the launching.  

It was another cloudy morning with questionable weather.  It was cold outside so Denisa even brought out the cuddle duds to wear under jeans and long sleeves.  She was also wearing gloves for part of the morning.

The wind was cooperating, and the current was bringing the balloons right over our heads.  What a beautiful way to spend the twilight hours of the morning!

We didn't take the time to eat breakfast, but we did bring granola bars and orange juice to snack on while we watched the balloons this morning.

Since this is Monday morning, the crowds pouring into the area were smaller.  We assumed the number of balloons launching would be smaller as well.  But they kept rising and floating away just as thick as the last two weekend mornings.  So our assumption of a smaller show today was certainly wrong.

While most of the balloons have the traditional wicker basket that will fit several people, there are a few balloons that fly only with a chair for the pilot.

It looks like Darth Vader was sneaking up on the Balloon Museum today.

After most of the balloons had launched, we headed back towards our RV parking place, thinking it would be fun to watch the remaining balloons float overhead.  We had just walked south of the museum and got to watch two balloons land very close to us.

Then the big dog balloon headed down at an alarming speed, and we watched as the basket beneath was drug sideways along the parking lot.  

Mark ran over to check on the riders, who were laughing by the time we arrived.  Mark heard the eight-year-old passenger tell the pilot, "You need to work on your landings!"  The pilot didn't speak much English, but we were glad to see that everyone was fine.

At the same time, we heard a voice from above asking, "Could you help us please?"

This pilot had purposefully chosen the large parking lot as a landing space, but now needed some extra weight to hold them on the ground.

Here's a close up of Mark using all his weight to off-set the tilt of the balloon.

There was another couple that also ran to their rescue.  After quick introductions Mark and Denisa became "Oklahoma" and the other couple was named, "Oregon."  This picture was taken later of the four of us with the balloon's pilot, Tom.

Mark had experience in repositioning balloons from yesterday, so the four of us grabbed on to the basket and helped to move it 180 degrees so the wind would be at a more favorable angle.  Then the balloon was lowered down and Mark ran to help man the rope to keep the balloon stretched out while it sank to the ground.

The balloon floated down to the parking lot unscathed.

We were then quickly schooled on the art of removing the air from the balloon.  No pictures here because Denisa was helping instead of photographing now.  She hung onto the rope attached to the top of the balloon, while the rest of this newly recruited crew helped to force the air out the top by wrapping the balloon silk together.  Denisa's position at the top was being engulfed in the "breath of the dragon" as the heated air from inside the balloon flowed out.

Since Denisa was the main photographer for most of the pictures, she got to pose by the flattened balloon, now ready for packaging away.

After unhooking the balloon from the wicker basket, Tom gave us a tour of the basket.  He explained what they carried and how it worked.  He said he loves to land where tourists can lend a hand and get to experience more of the hot air ballooning experience.  We certainly loved the experience.

When Tom asked the question, "Who is strong?" Denisa automatically raised Mark's hand for him.  That meant that Mark got to help carry the giant tote that the balloon would fit into.  The rest of us put the balloon onto our shoulders, stuffing our section into the tote while Mark and "Mr. Oregon" carried the increasingly heavy tote up the line.  As you can see, the real balloon crew has now arrived with the pickup and trailer, and the trained personnel.  They also distributed gloves to us four volunteers, as the oil on our hands isn't good for the balloon silk.

The final bit of balloon barely fit into the top of the tote, and Mark was glad that their strong job was finished.

The next step was very technical.  The lid was secured to the top of the big blue bag, and then we all sat on it, forcing the extra air out of the balloon.  As the pieces of equipment were loaded into the trailer, we got lots of good information about ballooning.  We also got an invitation to the tail-gate breakfast they had fixed that morning.  Since we had barely nibbled on our granola bars during the lauch, this was certainly a welcome invitation.

We also got an official card and lapel pin, wonderful souvenirs of our morning on a crew.

Tom had explained the balloon games that were going on this week, so we headed back to the launch field to watch.  The balloons are trying to land their bag of bird seed into several different targets in the field behind Denisa.  Because balloons can't steer left and right, they must navigate the wind currents towards those targets.

We also got to talk to a whole herd of zebras that were still on the field.  These are the air traffic controllers of the hot air balloon world.  They all had interesting stories to go with their interesting outfits. 

We meet such interesting people in our adventures, and are blessed with experiencing so many things!  Thanks to our new friends in the skies!