Mesquite Hot Air Balloon Festival & Glow

Our pilot Judy, from Arizona, has never been to the hot air balloon festival in Mesquite, NV before but this year she was able to get in and so Tony & I plus all our favorite crew came to help her with her balloon. Our friend Kylee and her family, Pat & Joyce and Hubert from the Netherlands! Great group of people I am so blessed to know.

Cathedral City Balloon Morning

Our morning on Sunday started out so early! 4:15am, Dave and Kim started getting up and ready.  They were so kind to share their hotel room with us. I got up at 4:45am and we were out the door about 5am to head to the ball fields for tethering, static displays, pancake breakfast and balloon yoga. 

Cathedral City Balloon Glow

We were able to help out at the balloon glow in Cathedral City on Saturday evening. It was windy on our drive but luckily the wind died down the closer we got to our destination.

Bear Valley Springs Balloon Festival ~ Day 2

Waking up to calm grounds and beautiful skies in Bear Valley Springs.

Bear Valley Springs Balloon Festival ~ Day 1

Tony and I decided to keep our plans and get out of Ridgecrest after the big earthquake on the 4th of July. Tony went to work and got turned away at the gate so we were able to head to the Bear Valley Springs area earlier than we expected. 

Temecula Balloon & Wine Festival - Day 1

I've heard about the Balloon & Wine Festival in Temecula for a few years now and I've always wanted to go. Esp because it's held right by Lake Skinner - my namesake! Haha...and I just thought it would be cool to go somewhere with my name attached to it. So...finally it worked out to take a trip down there for the weekend. It's about 3 hours away, so not too bad. We had just painted the teardrop camper 2 days earlier and it was ready for another trip out.

Hot Air Balloons & Teardrop Trailers

We woke up very early (5:30am) to go watch our friend Kim launch a hot air balloon with 12 passengers, meeting over at the Lake Perris airport. It turned out that Tony & I crewed instead because 2 of her crew didn't show up. Wow. Good thing we were there! When we left our camp site it was not foggy but 20 minutes away at the airpot, it was a bit foggier. Then when we drove to the launch site - it got worse!

Tethered Rides on Sunday

Sunday was luckily a bit warmer of a morning but still had a chilly start to it. It was fun to watch all the balloons take off from the field - glad for another day with weather good enough for the balloons to fly safely. I love this pic because you can see the shadow of our balloon there on the ground.

Balloons and Tunes Roundup in Kanab - Day 3

Sunday morning in Kanab brought another layer of snow and another pilot briefing that announced no balloons would be flying but Smokey the Bear would be inflating. So...that was cool at least and I was able to get some fun pictures. 

Balloons and Tunes Roundup in Kanab - Day 2

Day 2 - Saturday - we woke up to SNOW! We had heard it might snow and sure enough, there was at least an inch on the ground by 6am when we woke up. Okay, Tony woke up and got up. I didn't really wake/get up until around 6:30. Pilot briefing was at 7:30 but we wanted to get some breakfast by the lobby in the hotel we were staying at beforehand. So...this was new. I have never been to a balloon festival where there was snow. Made for some good pictures though!

Mesquite Balloon Festival - Day 2

Day 2 of Mesquite and I got to fly! My pilot friend Kurt took me up in his balloon and it was so super cool.

Mesquite Night Glow

I finally remembered to wear my light up shoes to a balloon event. Most of the time I forget because I am not in a good habit or they are not charged. These are $10 shoes from a county fair we went to and they aren't perfect but they are all right for now.

Mesquite Balloon Festival - Day 1

Tony and I have never taken the opportunity to go to Mesquite, NV for their hot air balloon festival but 2019 was the year we made it happen. Woohoo! Our first balloon event to kick off the new year and it went oh so well.

Going Up, On a Sunday

Sunday morning in Page turned out to be perfect for flying. It's crazy that the wind going a bit too fast or the wrong direction can throw off the day if you are a hot air balloon pilot.

Page Arizona Balloon Festival day 1

Tony & I drove all night pretty much and got in around 2:30am on November 2. But arriving at the end of a trip to hot air balloons is always well worth it, even when we are running on not much sleep the first day.

Reno Balloon Races - Day 2

Saturday was another amazing weather day for all the balloons to fly. The sunrise was beyond amazing too, and funny how it was only super legit on Saturday. Friday and Sunday were nothing to shout about. Check it out...

Pahrump Hot Air Balloon Festival

I have been dying to go to a new hot air balloon festival and when I found one in Pahrump which is only a few hours away, I knew we had to make it happen. It was tricky because of weather and we ended up not being able to camp but overall I am so glad we went!

Night Glow at Fear Farms - Phoenix, AZ

Friday night balloon glow was a bit sketchy with a slight wind but a majority of 

balloons did inflate.

Our pilot pulled her balloon out but in the end decided against participating in the glow. I was able to get around to most of the balloon to capture some pictures. 

Fear Farms Hot Air Balloon Festival - AZ

Tony and I got to Phoenix late Thursday night and stayed the next few days with my sister (thanks Allison!) We were up and out early, aka 630am, to get to the field for the pilot briefing. Here are some fun pictures from the weekend!

Spirit of Boise Hot Air Balloon Festival

I was really wanting to go to the hot air balloon festival in Boise but Tony was not so much into it. It was talked about at the reunion and Tony's mom expressed interest in going so we woke up shortly before 6am to make the hour drive in to Boise to watch the balloons fly. It was perfect timing!