This past weekend I headed east to Rochester, MN for the balloon rally there. The rally is a fairly small event, but great fun with many fun pilots in attendance. Sue and I headed over early so I could take a look at the weather. On the way, we stopped in Fairmont, MN for a Channel Inn Burger. For those who have never had a Channel Inn Burger, I highly recommend the heart attack on a plate. When coming out of the restaurant, I noticed that a local had backed into my chase vehicle. Not sure why someone felt the urge to park on top of my rig, but fortunately there was no damage!
The weather was less than ideal for Rochesterfest, but the balloons didn't stay in the trailer completely. Friday night the glow was winded out, so we did a field of fire instead. It was the first time I had experienced a field of fire in person. The field of fire was kinda cool, but the wait two hour wait in the propane line was hardly worth it.
Saturday morning was extremely windy aloft, but relatively light winds on the surface. Five balloons flew, covering 20 miles in 40 minutes. I elected to stay on the ground, but cold inflated for the crowd. It was a good thing I decided to do that, since my lines were all tied up in knots from the last pack up.
Saturday evening we had thunderstorms over the city and the airport. The field, which was on the far north side of town got sprinkled on, but nothing more. As sunset approached, the thunderstorms dissipated and winds dropped off to near nothing. A cold front was poised ~30 miles west of the field, with 35-45 mph gusts behind it. Even though the strong winds were not far away, it was evident the front would not be pushing through in the next few hours. In addition the rain showers were giving way to clear skies, so I elected to try to glow for the crowd. It was the first time I had the opportunity to glow, it was great.
Sunday morning the front came through between 4-5 am, ending any opportunity to fly. Since mother nature won this year not allowing the pilots a competitive flight for only the second time in 23 years, the meteorologist for the event was presented the last place trophy.
Field of fire Friday night. John is running the burners, and Sue is doing her fire dance. 
Here is a picture of me being a dork messing around inside the envelope.
Field of fire on Saturday evening.
Night glow. 
1 comment:
The final picture in this series (the night glow) is GORGEOUS!!
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