I heard about the Hudson Hot Air Affair last fall. Probably on Facebook. It’s pretty straightforward. First weekend in February, sports fields of the EP Rock Elementary, tons of hot air balloons.
YA and I planned it all out. The website scared us a bit about how finding parking would be, so we left the house at 5:30 on Saturday morning to make sure we were there by about 6:15. This turned out to be jumping the gun. We easily found a really good parking spot right in front of the elementary school. Nothing was going on in the dark so we were able to sit in the car for almost a half hour before we ventured out to see the sunrise. It was quite icy on the field and the temperature was in the teens, but there were enough bodies waiting to keep it comfortable. The launch was scheduled for 7:35 but there were notes on the website as well as a couple of announcements that they would decide right at 7:35 if the winds would allow the launch. All the balloons were in various states at that point and when they cancelled the launch due to unfavorable winds they said that the balloon teams were going to inflate the balloons but keep them on the ground. (Turns out that none of the four planned launches happened this year – winds just weren’t in the mood.)
It was an amazing view of all the balloons filling up at once – if you haven’t seen a hot air balloon up close, they are HUGE. Seeing that many in the same place, all inflating at once was amazing.
My feet were starting to feel the cold at that point and I suggested to YA that we head to the craft fair (inside the school). She said we should make one “go around” to see everything before heading in. You’d think she would know better, wouldn’t you. An hour later I was still talking to balloon teams. Name of balloon (Kay’s Windancer, Senorita Sunrise, Late Nite Discussions, Wizardly Dreams), were they the owners/regular team (about 80% owners), where were they last (several had just come from Arizona the week before), how long they’ve been ballooning (most of them over 10 years, one guy 50 years). As you can imagine, many of them had plenty to say and I was having a great time. YA finally lured me with “there’s a black lab puppy over near the Remax balloon”. (Note: There are over 100 Remax balloons worldwide with four dedicated teams. The others can be leased/operated by Remax realtors and agents.)
The craft fair was OK. I bought a bottle of local maple syrup. I liked this year’s t-shirt – not sure what the theme (Skywalkers Return to Ranch) meant but I liked the design but it was a bit much, especially since I already have too many t-shirts. But we noticed that t-shirts from previous years were only $5. Maybe we’ll go again next year – hopefully there will be a launch and I can get this year’s shirt for a bargain!
Have you ever been up in a hot air balloon?
Trail Baboon 
Never.
But I know of a certain 47 hot air buffoon.
LikeLiked by 3 people
That stuff must be heavy… until it’s lighter than air. Then, suddenly, uplift. How angelic!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Closest I’ve come is when the Duke of Argyll kicked us off his parking lot so he could launch his.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nope, the acrophobia is strong in me. But i do love to look at them. The maple syrup comment hase thinking I need to make pancakes
LikeLiked by 2 people
Maple syrup calls to me at craft fairs. At the sheep and wool festival last spring I found a cinnamon infused maple syrup. I had to hide it in the back of the refrigerator to make sure that it didn’t disappear too fast (to hide it from me, not to hide it from YA!)
LikeLike
Three times and all of them predawn launches. The first was over the Masai Mara National Park in Kenya followed by a delicious champagne brunch in the middle of the savannah.. The second was over the mountains on the west side of Tucson. That was also followed by a breakfast – not as fancy as the first one. The most recent was over the Wahibi Sands in Oman – no brunch but we received medals and caps commemorating our flight. The first time I saw hot air balloons up close was the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival about 35 years ago. We saw both the initial launch and the Balloon Glow (inflated but tethered). My travel buddies and I plan to do another balloon ride over Cappadocia on a trip to Turkey this Fall.
LikeLiked by 5 people
My first was also over the Masai Mara. I had always said that hot air ballooning, like bungee jumping, would be something I would never do. But the opportunity to try a hot air balloon over Africa was more than I could resist. And it wasn’t scary. Who knew?
LikeLiked by 4 people
No, and have never seen one – sounds like great fun!
Closest I come is my s-i-l who’s also a former roommate has been up in one, decades ago now…
LikeLiked by 1 person
No. Never had the urge to do that, or sky dive, or parasail, or be up in the air in anything other than a full-size jet. Might be because my grandfather took me, my sister, and his daughter up in a small plane and talked the pilot into playing a trick on us, like stalling out for a few seconds, or some other maneuver that scared the crap out of this 8-yr-old.
Chris in Owatonna
LikeLiked by 1 person
The trip during which I did the hot air balloon was also the trip where I had a flight in an open air biplane. I wondered if the fact that neither of these experiences scared the begeezus out of me would mean that I had conquered my fear of heights. No, it did not. I still like to take the elevator at the Mall of America instead of those escalators.
LikeLike