On Saturday, we got up at 3:30 a.m., picked up a friend of Karry and Nadine's, Jim - who I met when I was visiting in February, and drove to Windsor where the annual Hot Air Balloon festival happens. We wanted to get there before sunrise, because just prior to sunrise the "Dawn Patrol" fires up and takes flight to check out the weather conditions. (Last year, I was told that only 3 balloons launched because the wind was so high that the other balloons were not allowed to go up at all). So, just before dawn broke, these 4 beautiful balloons fired up and took off. It was extraordinary. After they circle around for awhile, they give the thumbs up and the other balloonists start to unfold their balloons, hook them up to the basket and eventually fire them up. The great thing about being there is that there is not much of a barrier between audience and the action on the field with the balloons. No, you can't just run out there, but you can. You can walk into the area and watch as they fire up the balloons.
Nadine and Karry - Nadine has the best hats, Karry is half asleep.
The girls with Jim.
It was all over by 10:00a.m. but the balloons flew longer and we got back to the house we could see them high in the air over the valley. It was great fun. We laugh alot.
Love to all...
(Thanks Bruce for keeping up with the blog!)
Fai
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