So I had never been to a balloon festival before . Well, I
take that back – I vaguely recall going to an event where hot air balloons were
launched in Upstate New York when I was about nine. I’ve heard about them
periodically, especially the biggest and most famous one in the country held
annually in Albuquerque. I’ve put the Albuquerque festival “on my list” as
something I’d like to do someday in conjunction with other travel in New
Mexico.

So when my friends Timby (Tim and Toby) invited me to join
them for the Colorado Springs Balloon Festival on Labor Day weekend, I said I’d
absolutely be up for it. Then they told me I’d have to be ready at 4:30 because
they launch shortly after dawn………and I had some brief second thoughts. Hey, if
I can get up at that hour of the morning to go climb a mountain I can do it to
stand around in a park to watch other people doing work to inflate and pilot
hot air balloons in a park. I should mention that it’s not that it gets light
in Colorado at 4:30 A.M. in early September. Colorado Springs is somewhat more
than an hour long drive from Denver .

So we got to Memorial Park in central Colorado Springs about
a mile east of downtown just as the sun was rising. Hmmm, and parking sucks! We
found a spot on a residential street a quite long walk from the park. What’s
wrong with all these crazy people getting up before dawn to watch balloons? I
thought Timby were two of the weird few who were into things like that, but it’s
apparently a big family event and there are some real hot air balloon aficionados
out there!

They were interesting to watch being inflated and then
taking off. I like the creativity of the bright colors of the balloons and the
varying shapes and styles – like the one shaped like a pig advertising a chain
of barbecue joints. And you know what they say is the best view of any hot air
balloon festival? It’s from the basket of the REMAX Balloon, because that’s the
only place from which you can’t see the ugly REMAX Balloon. I have to admit it
was quite a dramatic site watching dozens or maybe over a hundred balloons take
off and grow smaller and smaller as they rose into the sky with Pike’s Peak in
the distance on the cool sunny morning . They eventually looked like little
colored lightbulbs floating in the sky.

And then they were all gone, moving slowly away from us and
getting smaller in the sky. Where do they all land? They seem to be going in
numerous directions. How do they steer them? A lot of it’s still a mystery to
me. And now what do we do at 9:30 A.M. in Colorado Springs? Hmmm, I’m sure we
can find something.