It was something we were looking forward to for a long time. We wanted to pick up where we left off with the last balloon rally of last year. We wanted to hook up with the great couple we hung with last year and share more good times. We were going to help them get their bright yellow balloon up, chase it until it landed, then pack it back up. We were going to talk about the past year over pizza and check out the fair together. It was going to be so great.
Well, we didn't crew for "Yellow Fever" and we didn't even crew for the Re/Max balloon as I mentioned in my last blog. A nice thing about being involved in hot air ballooning is that having a good time doesn't depend on who you're crewing for. The only disappointment can be the weather and the weather was great last weekend. No rain and not too windy meant every time they were scheduled to launch they launched.
Crewing with someone new exposed us to a whole new set of fun. "
La Ristra," the 800 pound, 128 foot tall, world's largest chili pepper balloon never took off, just inflated, but that was enough. The pilot, Mike Shrum, from my favorite state that I've never been to, New Mexico, was a lot of fun. Because it takes four times the normal about of crew members to fasten and unfasten velcro on 56 chilis, get trapped air out, lift it, etc., it seemed like a big party. By the time he took off in his regular balloon from Butler Middle School on Sunday morning he had more than a dozen people either in the cab or bed of the pickup truck or following behind in a car. In the two years I attended Butler I never imagined I'd be helping launch a hot air balloon from it's athletic field.
We didn't crew with the people we wanted but we saw them often and even launched from Butler together. La Ristra clearly needed our help. We not only helped unpack, inflate and pack up the chili balloon, but because we were from Waukesha we also navigated the chase vehicle when Mike flew.
Almost 20 balloons launched on four occasions during the Skyfest 2007 rally. I hope most people were able to catch a glimpse of them. Maybe you saw the chase vehicle convoy pass your house or maybe a colorful balloon touched down on your street. Till next year . . .
