Balloons Away
Saturday morning at Carolina Balloonfest 41 in Statesville, NC
Float Away
The clouds were so awesome that morning.
Fire it Up!
Once they fill it up with air from the fan, they fire it up… I always love that part.
I think it's amazing that the balloon just doesn't catch on fire!
Blow it Up
I positioned myself here so that I could get a series of shots …not to mention those amazing clouds!
I like shots like this because you can see the scale of these balloons because of the wee little people around them…
Stand it Up
THIS WAS THE MOMENT I WAS WAITING FOR THE ENTIRE TIME---
that piece of sun when they stood the balloon up… it happened pretty fast and I'm so happy I actually caught it!!!
The Hare & The Hound
One of the reasons I love the Carolina Balloonfest is because the pilots participate in competitions.
On Saturday morning it was the Hare & the Hound competition.
The Jasper balloon (the Hare) usually takes off first with a head start over the others.
Wherever the Jasper balloon lands, they mark an X on the ground.
The other balloons (the hounds) follow and they have to throw their markers as close to the X as possible.
Balloon Glow
I L-O-V-E the balloon glow!!!
If you sit up on the hill, there's a great view.
Sometimes they look like blinking Christmas lights…
Also the crowd counts and everyone says "Full Burn" and all the balloons light up at once!
I really like the rings of light on the ground from the balloon at the right, front of the pic.
A Great Day to Fly Away
I just love hot air balloons…
they're so vibrant and have great color patterns…and they just float away…
The Hounds
After the Jasper Balloon (the Hare) took off, it was time for the other balloons (the hounds) to chase after it.
I just love how huge the balloons are!
Ham-let
One of the shape balloons at Carolina Balloonfest…
I think it looks like Ham-let makes a funny face because there is fire being lit under him!!!
Love this balloon, on the side it says "When Pigs Fly" and on the back there's a little curly pig tail.
Smiley Scarecrow
Just take a moment…
a moment to see the enormous size of that balloon! It's so cute too...
Rocket Man
Rocket Man is Huuuuuuuge!
We also decided he looked like he's constipated…LOL
We also decided he looked like he's constipated…LOL
Sometimes, depending where we stood, the perspective of Rocket Man seemed like he was also watching the balloons fly by….
