Last week, on Monday, I was driving to the park to go for a walk, when I looked to the West, and saw a balloon in the sky! It was way across town, so I knew I had to hurry if I wanted to chase it, but chase it I did! I got close to where the balloon was flying, and followed along, eventually finding the chase truck. I visited with the driver (Donna, the pilot's wife) and I followed her to where the balloon landed. It was nice meeting another balloonist!
Then, on Friday, I could tell that Sunday's weather would be perfect, so on Saturday, I put together a crew and plugged in the tank heaters for a morning flight. I got up early, met most of my crew at the Y, and headed north to Vilonia, Ar. Vilonia is a small town near Little Rock that is an ideal launch site because it's away from the airport, and there are lots of landing sites.
The pilot that told me about Vilonia said, "Just don't fly to the southeast!" because there's no place to land. After a calm, slow inflation, I launched and headed...SOUTHEAST! I started to get a bit nervous, but as I ascended, the wind shifted, and I flew almost due west, traveling almost 9 miles over the course of my hour-long flight.
One special treat of the flight was the addition of my "passenger," Flat Vicki. Vicki is a laminated drawing of a crew member's sister-in-law. The real-life Vicki is battling cancer, and is living vicariously through her two dimensional voodoo doll. After we landed, Flat Vicki celebrated with a traditional champagne toast! I hope the pictures come out and bring happiness to the real Vicki, whom I hope to meet one day. Maybe the real one will fly with me when she recovers!
The next several weekends will be occupied with packing the contents of our house in preparation for moving next month, so flying might be scarce! Good thing last week had lots of hot air!
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