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(These are not black and whites)

Where does all the time go? I wanted to get one more blog entry in before the end of the year sneaks up on me. Several weeks ago, I purchased new furniture for the downstairs family room and ditched the college hand me down stuff. I have already had a couple of movie nights breaking in the new additions and I have to say they definitely get the seal approval. If the furniture looks familiar to some of you, that is because it is the same set as what both Jazzy and Jen and Jeff have.

Recently, we have had a lot of fog and frost. The end result was a festive scene that would have made a nice Christmas card (better than the generic cards I sent out this year). I have been on night shifts the last several nights, but rumor has it that some pilots flew in town over the frost covered surfaces once the fog lifted. I am sure the view was spectacular!

This will be my last blog entry of the year as I am flying to Hawaii for several days of R & R. Be sure to check back in early 2008, I will try to post some pictures shortly after I get back. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and I look forward to seeing everyone in 2008!

SNOW!!!

Yesterday the first winter storm of the season hit the Upper Midwest. We received just under 5 inches of snow here in the city, but it amounted to an inch of QPF because of all the freezing rain and sleet mixed in. Getting around the city was slow, but still manageable.

In other news, helped with a flight on Thursday afternoon and got in around 1/2 hour of burner time in Rock Rapids Iowa. Went to around 1500 feet agl as a bald eagle flew at tree top height below us. Also, made my first splash and dash in the Rock River. Overall, a very fun flight and afternoon.

Finally, have been asked back to speak at the Wisconsin Balloon Group and the Iowa Balloonist Association Safety Seminars in spring of 2008. Have some really cool ideas for talks, now just gotta find the time to write them!

Get Em' Frye

Jeff and Jen came into town the other weekend. We ended up going out to Pickle Barrel, Spezia's and Cracker Barrel. In addition, we hung out some with Shawn and Lori, and even drug out the balloon for a quick flight over Brandon. Overall, a great weekend!! Was a great morning to fly, there were eight balloons in the air. I haven't seen that many balloons in the air since I arrived here outside the race. Winds came up a little faster than projected, but all got down safely. Attached are a few pictures of Homer and Frye playing tag in the backyard. I would have had a few pictures of the flight, but yours truly forgot the camera again. Maybe next time...

Hello Kitty and Shrek

Yesterday, I went back down to the Vermillion Dome to help out with the test inflations of two more Macy's parade balloons, Hello Kitty and Shrek. There were a ton of people there so I ended up just adding a hand here and there, but the experience of being a part of something like this was really cool.

In other news, had a really nice flight over Sioux Falls last Saturday morning. Forgot the camera at home, so the crew was unable to take any pictures of the flight. Maybe one of these days I will have a postcard moment and will beable to get cards made...

Abby Cadaby

The shingles have slowed me down some this week, but I have still accomplished much of what I would have liked to get done. I am on pain medication so flying has been out (despite the good weather), but earlier in the week I went down to Vermillion for the test inflation of one of the new Macy'y parade balloons. Abby Cadaby is a charater brought to life by Sesame Street (and by the letter A).

Am hoping to get over the shingles soon and get back to flying.

Also, had a really good leadership workshop through work earlier this week. For all those Central Regioners...I HIGHLY recommend it.

A little under the weather

A few day ago I was raking bags and bags of pine needles and I noticed this aching sensation in my left shoulder. I didn't really worry about it since I thought it was just a bug bite, but over the past few days the pain has become much worse and has spread to my chest. I went to the doctor this morning, and even though we are still awaiting the tests from the blood work, the doctor thinks I have shingles. While shingles are not as bad as appendicitis, they are far from fun. Hopefully they go away soon.

New Trailer

A few weeks ago, I made a trip down to Fort Dodge, IA to pick up my new trailer. The trailer ended up with a higher profile than I was expecting, however, the basket and the balloon fit in the trailer quite nicely with lots of extra room.

I was hoping to unveil the new trailer with pictures of the balloon, but unfortunately it has not been flyable here. There have been three time in the past week where I have lined up crew, but unfortunately mother nature had other ideas. I am going to try again tomorrow morning. Hopefully the winds will drop enough over night, and low lying stratus will not develop!!

Black Hills and Devil's Tower

Had an incredible time out west over the holiday weekend. After working a day shift on Thursday, I headed out with Kay West and Connie Sauur to Custer to spend the night before flying in the Black Hills on Friday morning. Once out west, we picked up Kay's husband Mark from the Rapid City airport and headed to the cabin to get the balloons ready to fly in the morning.

On Friday morning we met up with Walter from Black Hills Balloons. Mark was running a little behind, but on the way out to the launch spot he saw five Elk! We launched a pibal and from downtown Custer and based on the readings we got, we set out to a predetermined launch spot. With the predominant south wind, we took off south of Custer and flew back to town. North of Custer there is very little in the way of roads and with the slow winds, we made sure not to get north of the main highway. Connie and Kay flew Whatever, while Mark, Wayne and I flew Red, White and Poo.

Crazy Horse is slightly visible in this picture (left of center).

Thereafter, we packed up and headed for Devils Tower. We pulled into town, unpacked, and before long all 27 of us were gathered around telling stories and eating a great potluck dinner. Over dinner, I got to meet Don Day of Day Weather. It was so cool being at an event with another meteorologist!! The next morning we awoke and the winds were a little faster than I would have expected. A midlevel atmospheric disturbance was passing through, however was expected to clear the area with the first hour after sunrise. After a small weather hold, the southerly breeze dropped off and Mark and Bob took to the skies headed towards Hewlett. This looked to be the most marginal of the flights, but still worked out nicely for those who chose to fly.







After the flight, some people went to the car show while others stayed cool by the pool or playing horseshoes with a cold beverage in hand. We also went on a drive scouting out potential launch spots and landing spots that would allow us to fly over Devil's Tower on Sunday and Monday morning based on the forecasted wind directions. That night, we gathered together for a milk can dinner and to cook smores over the campfire. As the sun set on the horizon, many retired early for what looked to be great flying conditions in the morning.

Sunday morning turned out even better than expected, with light north winds near the surface and south winds aloft. I was given the opportunity to fly with Heather Day, and for the first time, I was able to experience box winds. We made three passes by the tower, before flying over the tower. The sight was just incredible. Once we were aloft, we were traveling at 35 mph but down near the surface winds were 2 mph or less. We ended up landing near a grove of trees adjacent to a giant hay field two and a half miles away from the tower. Heather had a great landing and made use of the drop line in her basket to work closer to the hay filed before deflating. While walking her, I was sure to make lots of noise to scare any nearby snakes away (I am petrified snakes). We located a propane dealer that was from the neighboring town of Moorcroft to refuel. He had a collection of cars at the car show, and needed help driving them back. I was given the opportunity to drive a car that was 50 years older than I, a 1930 Ford Coupe. After getting fueled, we headed back to the camp site to take naps under the tree in the hammock, hit the pool, or discuss some of the incredible sights from the flight earlier in the day.





Legend has it that there is a book on top of Devils Tower that everyone signs. Can you see it?






That night we once again gathered for another potluck dinner and more Smores (yum). The atmosphere really had a hard time settling down that night, and the winds gusted up and down much of the night as a weak area of low pressure formed just east of the Rocky Mountains. Because of the marginal conditions, everyone stayed on the ground Monday morning. We ended up eating lots of leftover food for breakfast and hit the road back to our respective states.
We ended up going back to Mark and Kay's cabin, and tooled around the Black Hills that afternoon. We went to Sylvan Lake, and then to the Custer game loop where we fed the Donkeys and saw tons of deer with HUGE racks. On the way out of the park, we also came across a rattler stretched across the road. This was my first experience being that close to a rattler, and it was something I have to say I could have done without (but fortunately I survived).

We traveled back to Sioux Falls on Tuesday without incident. On Wednesday morning I was headed to work and was involved in a minor fender bender exiting the freeway. My rear bumper is slightly damaged, but otherwise there are no lasting scars. Will be taking care of that soon. Well I have written enough for this chapter for the night, will write more soon...

Headed West...

Once again, I have been quite delinquent in keeping up the blog. Below are a few pictures of my solo flight from a little over a week ago. Thanks to the photographers Max and Carol, they both did a great job!!

Landing Spot

The crew did a great job of inducting me with cold beer, cold champagne, and cold water. Did I mention it was cold?

Over the past few days I went to Northwest Iowa for a good friend's party celebrating 50 years in the same house. Quite an accomplishment, way to go Grandma Pat!!

After a summer chalk full of adventures with over 7,000 miles covered, I am nearing my last scheduled trip of the season. In a few days I am headed to the Black Hills and Devils Tower to spend the holiday weekend with good friends (oh yeah, and fly too). Because of the extreme terrain and mountain flying conditions, my balloon will be staying here and I will be flying with more experienced pilots. Should be a great time, check back on the blog for pics. Right now, the weather is looking pretty good for the most part.

Also on the balloon...still have not got the call that the trailer is done yet (ARRRRRGGG). Last word was the trailer was now going to be done by the end of the month, so stay tuned. Once the trailer is done and up here in Sioux Falls, I will be eager to get back in the air and do some soloing.

Busy Week

I apologize for not having more entries this week, but there were a lot of late nights and early mornings with mother nature really not cooperating.Last Saturday night we were hoping to fly over the fair but a good ole thunderstorm developed with a nice shelf cloud so we kept our feet on the ground.


Last Sunday morning had a nice long 17 mile flight from the balloon field to Norwood IA (south of Indianola). Once you get off the classic map, there are tons of cattle down there. Then last Monday evening I flew from Otter Creek to a field just north of the balloon field. Thereafter I was grounded for a few days but I was able to get my written test completed. Flew Thursday morning from the balloon field down to a hay field just north of Lake Ahquabi. Visibility that morning was far from ideal, but was still able to maintain at least a mile and a half throughout the flight. On Thursday night had a slow flight from Woodruffs farm north and east of the filed to a house on the southwest side of town. Friday morning the visibility was down in the soup, but after waiting it out Jon Shelton and I flew and had a nice hour and a half long flight. Friday night I soloed, taking off from near Sandyville with the field as the target landing spot. Was able to get a south push early in the flight, but lost it and ended up in a neighborhood just north and east of the field.
I would like to thank my instructors: Bill Clemons, Jim Fromm and Jon Shelton for volunteering their time to help me out. I would also like to thank all my crew this week: Louise, Ashley, Missy, Bret, Brandon, Tyler, Max, Carol, Branden B, Cal, Missy B, Kirk, Thad, Janice and Bob. Of course, all of this would not be possible with out Joel Blankers allowing me to borrow his trailer!!

So, the goals for this fall are to work towards becoming a more competent pilot and take my check ride with the FAA. Once that is completed, I should have my license.

So close yet so far

Back on the road again to continue what has been a very busy summer so far. Made it to Des Moines last night and am attempting to squeeze in some flights as mother nature allows. The weather looks less than ideal, but will try to work with what I have. This morning went down with Jim Fromm to Lake Ahquabi (~20 miles south of Des Moines for those that are not Indianola natives) to try and fly into the balloon field. It was fast aloft but though we could make a quick flight out of it anyway. Got the balloon unpacked and ready to go, and the winds really started to gust up. After re-evaluating, ended up bagging the flight this morning. Hoping for less wind tomorrow morning...

Continuing to Fly

Last Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, I was able to get a few great training flights in down at the Classic. I would like to publicly thank Matthew Grote and his crew for all their help in making this possible. On Thursday, I had the opportunity to fly my balloon in Sioux Falls for the first time. Thanks goes to Duane, Mike and Sue for their help in getting me in the air!

I am planning on heading back down to Des Moines this weekend and next week for more flight training. Hopefully mother nature will cooperate.

Brandon and Tyler fly

We had to wait for the wind gusts to die some last night, but eventually a pole grab was called at the field. Balloons went out into the country side east of the balloon field to find a launch location that would allow the winds to steer them back into the field. Brandon flew with Mark and made it to the field just as the targets were closing. Tyler flew with Max and landed just north of the field in property that was previously owned by Fay King.

This morning a five part task was called. 33 pilots scored on the first target (a maximum distance double drop), but no one was able to make it to any of the other targets. Attached are a picture or two from the launch site.