A Canyonful of Balloons

On Monday night, Wifey said some guy was going to park his RV out in the field where Marlboro usually sets up. She said some folks were going to travel down the canyon in a hot air balloon the next morning. I didn't know anything about it.

Tuesday morning, we woke up and I decided we all needed to go out in the field and watch. And wait. The balloon was supposed to float by around 7:30am, so we took some lawn chairs and coffee and dry granola for H-Bomb and Sawed Off out to the field. Then we waited. At around 7:40am, Wifey ran back to get some blankets and waffles.

I don't know how much longer we waited, until we saw this:


And we thought, man, he's flying kind of low. It was cool and all, but sort of anticlimactic, since he didn't crash land in the reservoir or anything.

Until we saw another balloon.

And another.

And they just kept coming.

There were about 8 balloons in all. I didn't get digital pictures of all of them because of course my camera battery died. I was also taking pictures with my 35mm (so you have something to look forward to). At some point I had to run back to the lawn chairs and get more film.


We watched the balloons for a very long time, much longer than I had intended since it was a school day for H-Bomb and no one was even dressed yet.



As we watched the balloons drift by, I also couldn't help but think of Stephanie and Christian Nielson. I don't think I have mentioned them on this blog before, but they have been constantly in my thoughts and in my heart since August, when they became survivors of a small plane crash in which the pilot died. Both Stephanie and Christian suffered severe burns, hers much worse than his, and both remain in critical condition in an Arizona burn unit. You may have heard about their accident, or about Stephanie's lovely blog, the NieNie Dialogues, both of which were covered nationally as well as by The New York Times and the Today Show.

The Nielsons have a family tradition of releasing balloons with hopes attached to them, to celebrate occasions in the lives of themselves and their four young children. Of course I thought of them. How could I not. And all my hopes for them were attached to these balloons that passed right over the ranch. Great Big Hopes, with Great Big Balloons.

If you would like to learn more about Stephanie and Christian's recovery, or contribute to their exponentially growing medical bills, you may read C Jane Enjoy It (written by Stephanie's loving sister, Courtney), where there are several ways to contribute. Fundraising efforts are also in full swing on the Nie Recovery website. Please at the very least keep good thoughts for them in your heart, they are very powerful things.


A couple of the balloons flew right over our heads, down the middle of the canyon. The horses and cows noticed the balloons too. They started running around the fields, confused.

The horses galloped over to us, "Are you guys SEEING this?"

And then they stood quietly and watched the balloons float away.

A balloon team (do you call them teams? a pilot and the crew?) drove in, testing the wind, watching their friends fly by. A couple of the balloons (including the first one) flew very low, over the reservoir. One guy touched down in the reservoir, in the water, and the balloon team suggested he had done a "Splash & Dash." But one of them said it may not have been on purpose. Then the possible splash & dasher touched down in the field, very close to a dead tree, and took off again. We don't know if he was playing around or having problems.

The balloon team decided to try to launch, right from the drive! It was exciting to watch them set up the basket, unpack the balloon, try to inflate it. And then they ultimately decided that it was too windy to launch. They were trying to gently deflate the balloon and set it back down on the tarp, but they asked for more weight. I ran over and tried to help them hold the basket down, control its location, while they were working on getting the balloon set down. It was really cool. A whole new world.

H-Bomb got to learn about what makes the fire (propane, like our heaters) and he and Sawed Off got to watch the whole thing up close.

Back in Michigan, we used to see occasional hot air balloons, but not like this. Not this close. Or this many. When my pictures are developed, I will post more from the set-up at the ranch headquarters entrance, and more of the balloons in flight.

At some point I ran back to the house to get the van, and we drove the van back when I decided we couldn't possibly stay any longer and still make it to school on time. We usually leave around 10:am, but because of all the balloon excitement and running around, I decided I needed a quick shower at 10:am. We still made it to school on time, with stories for H-Bomb to tell.