Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful to all my friends and family who have had an impact on my life this past year! Below are some pictures of the test inflations of the new Macy's Thanksgivng Day parade balloons. Thanks Mark and Kay for the invitation to be a part of such great events!

La la la la la la, la la la la la.

Horton from Horton Hears A Who.

A small superhero waits for Buzz to come to life!

Mini Buzz and Super Buzz.

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!

Sioux Falls # 1!?!

I came across this news story which suggests Sioux Falls is one of the best places in the country in terms of low unemployment rates. I really like the pictures that go along with the story, a picture of the Olympics from 2002 and the Mormon church!? I guess they didn't have any photos on file of Sioux Falls without blowing snow...lol.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/11/24/cb.best.cities.find.jobs/index.html

Snow and Wildlife...

So unfortunately, winter has begun to set-in here and we have had two minor bouts of snow as of late (two one inch events). During the first snow, I had four deer in my yard (three does and an eight point buck) around 8 pm at night. The camera had a hard time focusing because of the snow, but here are a few of the better shots.

Wacky weather....

A line of thunderstorms (yes in November) blew up just to the east of my house tonight. Contrast this with the blizzard watch that has been issued just west of here for tomorrow night... ARG!!

Happy Halloween!

This is a little late...but here are a few pictures of the Halloween party.

I have no idea what "Dolly" is thinking here...

Wakefield, NE

Unfortunately, this is the last balloon rally of the year. Mother nature was less than accommodating throughout the weekend, only allowing us to fly Friday night and perform a field of fire on Saturday night. I was busy flying Friday night, so I didn't get any pictures. However, my passenger from the local newspaper took a few photos. I also was interviewed by one of the Sioux City TV stations on Sunday morning. Check out the interview here. I had a hard time organizing my thoughts by then because I was so tired. ;-)

Overall, it was a great small town balloon event with a GREAT community, I just wish the winds would have lightened up some to allow us to fly more.

View looking back towards town and the balloon field Friday night.

Help squeeze the air out of that kids!

Getting ready for the field of fire.

Field of fire. Notice the drift of the flame.

Entertainment at the bar Saturday night. He performed for over six hours.


This is what happens when you have a rough landing.

Did I mention the drinks were flowing?

Special Shapes Rodeo

This morning winds were expected to come up, so some pilots elected not to fly. We stayed on the field to watch the special shapes launch, and then quickly found our way to a spot to launch to fly in for the key grab. The winds switch so Rich scraped up the east side of the field and landed in the gravel pit.

The weather looks bad the next few days, so we are planning on getting an early start on the trip back home tomorrow.