Gatesway Balloon Festival

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to attend the Gatesway Balloon Festival in Claremore again. Curt is on the board of Gatesway so we scored the VIP pass which was priceless because it gave us access to AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!! And on those two days, air conditioning was a MUST!

Holding a VIP pass not only gets you the sweet accouterments such as AC and grub, but you're also expected to help out a bit... mostly that means volunteering to be balloon crew. Not that big of a deal, we find it super fun and most balloonists are super-nice and like kids... bonus!

We all woke up before dawn to drive to Claremore Saturday and Sunday mornings to help crew. The kids loved it and Curt and I are big enough dorks that we are already talking of someday buying a balloon and trailer! Seriously folks...

We were fortunate enough to crew for a sweet couple from Kansas. They had a beautiful 3 passenger balloon named "Prairie Sunset". You can see why...

There are many fun things to do at balloon festivals as a balloon pilot. There are competitions each day such as target competitions where each balloonist takes off from a chosen location and flies over a target where they have to fly close enough to the ground to drop a small sandbag as close to the bulls eye as possible. Another competition is the "Hare and Hound" where a chosen balloon is launched and flies an unknown course while all the other balloons have to follow and the one who chases and finds the "hare" balloon first, wins.

There were lots of other activities to take part in at the festival... There was a killer car show, (I *heart* cars!) arts and crafts and believe it or not, a Mr. and Mrs. Balloonfest pageant.

I wish I could tell you that we were able to avoid that pageant like the plague... not so much. Not my daughter, but my *SON* ASKED to be in the pageant when they were on stage calling for contestants. Oh my, that was interesting!

He got 1st Runner-Up, he did! ~*Proud parents we were!!*~

You like how he is all decked out in his t-shirt and athletic shorts... yeah, we were not thinking "Pageant Contestant" when we were dressing to help with the balloon at 5 in the morning!!

They even gave Lg the 2nd Runner-Up gift because only 2 girls entered the contest!!

Ahhh, my two beauty contestants...

Finally, I will leave you with some pic's Curt took while on his balloon ride. Can't wait for Curt to get his pilots license so we can do this whenever we want!!!!

Who wants a ride???