Balloons!

Time for the Adirondack Balloon Festival!  We didn’t go last year, and I think it was because the weather was bad?  The balloons really have to be picky about what they launch in.

Anyway, I wanted to go to the Friday evening launch since that seemed to be the one with the best chance of happening this weekend weather wise.  The nice thing is that this is held at the municipal airport, which is 6 miles away and totally bikeable.  Saves on parking (and the environment!).

At first, we weren’t sure if the balloons were going to go up at all since it was breezy, and I had a certain window of time that I had to leave by to make it home by dark.  Just when we were thinking of leaving, they started to inflate some balloons.

 

One reason I love balloon festivals is that you can go right into the launch area and get close to them.  They are so huge – pictures do not do them justice.

 

Some new balloons this year.  Wicked!

wicked

Pepe Le Peu:

pepe

Horton the Elephant – one of my faves!

horton

Spider Pig.  I should have gone around to the other side for this one.

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He wasn’t ready to go with his droopy legs LOL!

Going overhead:

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The strawberry is a crowd favorite.

strawberry

This was some kind of giant bird – a hummingbird, I think?  Sandwiched between Horton and Spider Pig:

ballon trio

Another one of my favorites.  Claw’D The Crazy Crab.

crab balloon

A lot of balloons have names, so I didn’t make that up. 😀

That’s Pig Headed in the background.

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Pigs really do fly!

 

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I couldn’t watch the rest of the balloons because I needed to get biking! This was as I was leaving and the balloons were going over the traffic control tower:

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I had to zoom home and it was getting darker than I liked to ride in.  I have a flashing red light for the back of my bike, but I could have used a headlight.  Worth it, though!

Speaking of biking, it was windy, but we got out this weekend on both days for a total of 50+ miles.  Rolled over 2000!

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Now I can officially start counting down since there is just under 500 miles to go. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

17 thoughts on “Balloons!

  1. debby

    I like the balloons that are just the plain balloon shape but have pretty colors. How fun to be able to get up close to them! Do they offer balloon rides for people too?

    Ooh, the countdown on your miles is getting really exciting!

  2. Lori's Mom

    Great job on the balloon photos, Lori! I guess Friday evening was the best launch after all. With all the traffic leaving the festival, I found it interesting that you on your bike got home before I did in my car when we left at the same time! Oh…and congrats on mile 2,000!

  3. Miz

    SO SO SO STUNNING!!!
    I think it was santa fe where my parents used to go to see the hot air balloons?
    my child would LOVE THIS.

  4. Shelley B

    I’ve never been to a balloon festival but it sure looks fun. Not sure I’d like to go up in one, but seeing them up close like that would be cool!

    Great going with hitting 2K on the bike!

  5. Jenea Mason

    I’m impressed with how much biking you’ve done! I bet the balloon festival was absolutely amazing. We don’t have anything like that around here, or if we do I don’t know about it, but I love hot air balloons. Some of the ones you got to see were incredible. Thanks for posting!

  6. Biz

    We used to have a balloon launch right across the river from us – they would be so close to use before they gained altitude that they could literally ask what we were grilling – so cool! They moved their location though so now we only see them once in a great while.

    Hooray for getting past 2000 miles!

  7. Fran

    I love it, the balloons in the bright colours make me smile! It has been years since I’ve been to a balloon festival. Maybe next year.

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