Carolina Balloon Fest - bust!
Sunday
We started with a rush. Baby got cranky for food around 5:30 am. Mom took care of her and then asked me if I wanted to go to the hot air balloon show. There was a massive launch at 7:00 am in Statesville. Mom got the kids up and ready to go. We ran up there as fast as we good, surely I was driving faster than the post limited. We didn’t want to miss the launch. The directions were pretty good. We got to the airport at 6:55 am. We stopped at a gate and was told that section was for the crew and to drive around to the runway lights. So we drove around there. When we got there we were approached by a security guard. He told us this entrance was for the vendors. He said to drive around to the next gate. So I hurried along as fast as I could. We drove to a dead end. Nice! It is now 7:05 am. Franticly looking around so we don’t miss the launch, I drive back where I came from. Then we noticed two large army vehicles outside of a locked gate and a few cars parked across the street. Maybe we have to watch from out here. So I parked with the others. Still nothing in the air. A few minutes has past and we saw some volunteers walk by. They were to open the gates. This place was to be open at 6:00 am. Why so late? So we drove our cars to get inline and wait. About 20 minutes has past now and we are still not in the gate, nor do we see balloons. One of the volunteers walked by and told us they were waiting on someone to stop by and open the gate. “Oh great” I say. “Are we going to miss the launch?” “No” he states. “It is only 6:45 am”. WTF?!? 6:45! My truck has 7:45. “Day light savings” the man says. Great!
Ok. So we are way early, could have had breakfast, or a few more winks. But, on the good side, we are ready for the balloons. Not missing that. The gates open shortly after that and we were in. Cool. Well, cool it was. The temperature was 36 degrees. Austin was all excited and ready to go. I told him, wait buddy. The sun is not even up and it is very cold. You want last too long out there. None of us would. The vendors weren’t even open and I still couldn’t see any balloons. So why move? We didn’t. But we watched folks pour in there. And then in about 30 minutes we saw them pour back out. By this time, the sun was out and Austin was eager to go. I saw some of the balloon crews’ cars coming in. So off we went. It was still 39 degrees. We weren’t ready for that. We walked across the runway and head for the vendor area. The wind was blowing pretty good and I thought we had better chances of blocking the wind down vendor alley. When we got there, it was cold. Still not that many vendors and where are the balloons??? As Mom stood inline for some hot cocoa, the line was long. The kids and I headed down vendor alley to see a few military aircrafts and maybe find a shorter line for hot cocoa. No such luck. As we headed back to see mom, there was a balloon trying to fill up. It was cool, but the cold made it hard to watch when you stepped out in the open. It was the lottery balloon. But it had to deflate because the wind was too much.
So mom was about to get the hot cocoa when we heard that the launch was cancelled due to high winds. Man, WTF!?! All this time, kids are cold, and this is what we waited for. Sux. This is the second time we got cancelled on for hot air balloons. So we headed to a Crackle Barrel and had a hearty breakfast. It was good! I just sat there with Jenny after we eat and had cups of coffe.
We started with a rush. Baby got cranky for food around 5:30 am. Mom took care of her and then asked me if I wanted to go to the hot air balloon show. There was a massive launch at 7:00 am in Statesville. Mom got the kids up and ready to go. We ran up there as fast as we good, surely I was driving faster than the post limited. We didn’t want to miss the launch. The directions were pretty good. We got to the airport at 6:55 am. We stopped at a gate and was told that section was for the crew and to drive around to the runway lights. So we drove around there. When we got there we were approached by a security guard. He told us this entrance was for the vendors. He said to drive around to the next gate. So I hurried along as fast as I could. We drove to a dead end. Nice! It is now 7:05 am. Franticly looking around so we don’t miss the launch, I drive back where I came from. Then we noticed two large army vehicles outside of a locked gate and a few cars parked across the street. Maybe we have to watch from out here. So I parked with the others. Still nothing in the air. A few minutes has past and we saw some volunteers walk by. They were to open the gates. This place was to be open at 6:00 am. Why so late? So we drove our cars to get inline and wait. About 20 minutes has past now and we are still not in the gate, nor do we see balloons. One of the volunteers walked by and told us they were waiting on someone to stop by and open the gate. “Oh great” I say. “Are we going to miss the launch?” “No” he states. “It is only 6:45 am”. WTF?!? 6:45! My truck has 7:45. “Day light savings” the man says. Great!
Ok. So we are way early, could have had breakfast, or a few more winks. But, on the good side, we are ready for the balloons. Not missing that. The gates open shortly after that and we were in. Cool. Well, cool it was. The temperature was 36 degrees. Austin was all excited and ready to go. I told him, wait buddy. The sun is not even up and it is very cold. You want last too long out there. None of us would. The vendors weren’t even open and I still couldn’t see any balloons. So why move? We didn’t. But we watched folks pour in there. And then in about 30 minutes we saw them pour back out. By this time, the sun was out and Austin was eager to go. I saw some of the balloon crews’ cars coming in. So off we went. It was still 39 degrees. We weren’t ready for that. We walked across the runway and head for the vendor area. The wind was blowing pretty good and I thought we had better chances of blocking the wind down vendor alley. When we got there, it was cold. Still not that many vendors and where are the balloons??? As Mom stood inline for some hot cocoa, the line was long. The kids and I headed down vendor alley to see a few military aircrafts and maybe find a shorter line for hot cocoa. No such luck. As we headed back to see mom, there was a balloon trying to fill up. It was cool, but the cold made it hard to watch when you stepped out in the open. It was the lottery balloon. But it had to deflate because the wind was too much.
So mom was about to get the hot cocoa when we heard that the launch was cancelled due to high winds. Man, WTF!?! All this time, kids are cold, and this is what we waited for. Sux. This is the second time we got cancelled on for hot air balloons. So we headed to a Crackle Barrel and had a hearty breakfast. It was good! I just sat there with Jenny after we eat and had cups of coffe.
posted by The Shaw Family | 11:23
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