The past few days have been eventful for Donna. On Thursday morning, I walked her out to the front gate at The Vineyard and used a card key to open it so she could get into the taxi cab waiting for her. She was off to the airport for a trip to New York City via Atlanta. It was a long day of travel made longer by the rehearsal she had at the studio Thursday evening for Friday morning’s satellite media tour. I tried to get a little more sleep after she left and managed to doze off for a short time.

Around noon, Larry, our host here at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, picked me up and we drove over to the Balloon Fiesta Park (map). We drove into the park and walked to the new building which replaces the tents that were used to house all of the registration tables and provide meals. Larry introduced me to several key players and I met the owner of the Heart’s A’Fire – the balloon we would be crewing for (article about the Balloon Fiesta and Hearts A’Fire here).

After Larry dropped me off back at our coach, I rode the scooter back to the balloon area to check out the RV park there. It’s a huge dirt lot across the street from the Hot Air Balloon Museum. It was only about 1/4 full but RVs were streaming in. I found Paul and Nina’s coach (WheelingIt). I didn’t see them around and their door was closed so I left.

On Friday morning, Donna made her appearances on 20 TV stations around the country. She was interviewed about fall cleaning and organizing tips. I went back over to the RV park and found Chris and Cherie (Technomadia) and stopped for a quick chat. They were setting up their 600 watts of portable solar panels to go with the 800 watts on their roof. They said I just missed Paul – he was out and about on his bicycle. I didn’t want to be a bother as they set up – I figure we’ll get a chance to catch up later, so I left. I went to Paul and Nina’s site and had a short chat with Nina. Donna and I met Chris and Cherie and Paul and Nina when they were lighthouse hosts at Cape Blanco our first year on the road.

RVs were continuously pulling into the RV lot. Most of the sites are dry camping – so water conservation and electrical usage are a factor. I don’t know how many sites there are, but it has to be four figures.

Donna’s flight back from New York City had an hour delay in Atlanta – she finally made it home at 11:30pm. I met her at the gate to The Vineyard so I could let her in. We slept fitfully until my alarm sounded at 4:15am for our first day as balloon crew. We left Larry and Ruth’s place at 4:45am and were in the park a little past 5am. Six of us were in the van – Larry and Ruth, their neighbors Jim and Barb and Donna and me. Breakfast is provided for pilots and crew members. We went to the new building where they were serving breakfast burritos, Krispy Kreme donuts, juice and coffee.

We were there early but it was already getting crowded. By the time we finished our breakfast, the line went halfway around the building.

We met Steve at breakfast. Larry, Steve, Donna and I were on the crew for Hearts A’Fire. Ruth, Jim and Barb crewed on a different balloon.

I wasn’t able to capture the nice photos you can find of this event – I was busy most of the time and I didn’t have the luxury of gaining a nice vantage point for maximum photo opportunity. Our balloon was at site H7, so regardless of lighting, that’s where I took my photos when I had a chance to do so.

First we attended the pilots briefing at 6am. The dawn patrol was setting up and the balloons glowed when they hit the propane burners to heat the air in the envelope.

The dawn patrol goes up first to check and confirm wind conditions.

Most of my duties entailed grabbing a handle and lifting. We lifted the gondola (basket) out of the trailer and set up the superstructure that holds the propane burner. The gondola with three propane tanks is heavy – five of us lifted it, put it into position and set it up.

Once the burners were connected, our pilot Brad Rice checked everything over and test fired the burners.

Next the balloon – more properly called the envelope – was unloaded and stretched out on the grass.

We tipped the gondola on its side and connected the cables from the envelope to it. Next a fan driven by a small Honda gasoline engine was fired up. We grabbed the envelope along the bottom and held it open. The fan forced air into the envelope which inflated but still stayed on its side on the ground.

We held station for quite a while waiting until balloons lifting off ahead of us were airborne. There’s a lift-off schedule. The pilot cannot be released until an official wearing a striped shirt –  like a football referee – gives the signal. Of course everyone refers to them as zebras. As our time drew nearer, we picked up the gondola to a 45-degree angle. Brad hit the burners and flames shot through the opening in the bottom of the envelope. This quickly heated the air in the 90,000 cubic foot balloon. The hot air caused the balloon to further inflate and rise. The fan was shut off and we tipped the gondola upright. Several of us leaned on the perimeter of the gondola to hold it down.

Two passengers joined Brad in the basket. Brad told us to take our weight off the gondola but keep our hands on as he checked the balloon temperature. The safety tether was disconnected. The balloon rose slightly and we walked the balloon away from the trailer to his launch point. He hit the burner and told us to let go on the launch signal and he was on his way up.

We drove out of the park to begin our chase. We lost sight of the balloon and went west, then turned north scanning all of the balloons in the sky. There were over 500 balloons and we couldn’t locate Hearts A’Fire. We stopped on the side of the road and I climbed up a short brick wall to get a better look. I still couldn’t find it. We circled back south, then east. Near the park entrance, I spotted the balloon low and well to the east of us.

We tracked it down. It looked like Brad might put it down in a large field that was part of the Indian reservation. This would be bad. It takes special permission to remove the balloon once it lands on Indian property – this can take hours. Our other chase vehicles arrived. I got out and walked to the barbed wire fence marking the Indian land. Brad called down to us to go to the next road to the east and turn left. I ran back to the van and told Larry where to go. It turned out to be a gated community but someone was able to open the gate for us. We pulled in just as Brad was setting down in a cul-de-sac.

Once again we held the gondola down. It took a coordinated effort to safely deflate and guide the envelope onto the street without snagging anything. Then we disassembled the balloon in reverse order of set-up. We had a large crowd of spectators from the gated community.

Once we had everything loaded in the trailer, we all drove back to the launch site at the park. Tables and chairs were set up and it was time to tailgate. We had food, mimosas and beer before noon!

We were back at our coach by 12:30pm and ready for a nap. Donna really needed the rest and slept for a couple hours. I dozed for about 30 minutes, then I read a book.

Tomorrow morning we’ll do it all over again. The opening Saturday is when the balloonists have the most support crew. On the weekdays, some the crew members will have to work and we’ll have fewer people. Hopefully the weather holds out although the current forecast calls for rain by noon tomorrow and more rain on Tuesday and Wednesday. We had showers this afternoon as we left the park but it cleared up after 2pm.

I may be publishing my posts at odd hours for the next week as the balloon schedule has me occupied in the mornings.