Red Rock
Balloon Rally
2000
arrivals. I glanced at my watch.
It was 15 minutes before the
6:00 p.m. registration start
time on Friday and everything
was ready. Twenty years and I
had never seen it this orga-
nized. With an expected 200
balloons for the 20th rally I
did expect a lot of last minute
scrambling. I looked around
at the faces I had seen for the
last 17 years and noticed that
they all had aged. This year
more than years past. I hate it
when that happens. The same
pilots, the same happy faces
the same warm welcomes
from the staff. Memories from
past events flashed through
my mind as I once again went
through the registration line. I
was done in less than two min-
utes and off to find my crew
and my old playmates.
We hadn’t been there but 15 minutes
and myfair-weather Southern California
crewhadalreadybeenshopping.This
yearIwasdrivingabrandnewDodge
4X4, with an automatic transmission and
pushbuttonfourwheeldrive.Amuch
bigger andmore comfortabletruckthan
wehadforthelasttenyears.Wasthis
good enough? Apparentlynot! They had
been shopping in the parking lot and found
an identical truck with a lift gate and were
dying to show me how easy it worked and
howaffordable it was. This year the entire
crew, allten, had accompanied me. This
includesthenewestmemberJames,a
three year old with a passion for balloons.
AftertheliftgatedemonstrationI
once againfoundJoel withfacepressed
againstthewindowofaChaseCom-
mander, toutingthe comforts thiswould
afford them all. Of course this would beat
myexpense.
Morning came quick,andasusualit
was cold. I finally, after16 years, was more
preparedthanever beforeandhadadded
silk glove liners and electricsockstomy
existingcoldweather gear,whichbythe
was sits in acloset all year becausewe don’t
need this stuff in Southern California.
Having my entire crew this year was
a blessing. Everyone knewwhat to do and
whentodo it. Leavingme much needed
time to figure out how the nitrogen charg-
ingsystem works. (Hey, I onlydragthis
thingoutonce a year.) Temperature this
yearwasabalmy24degrees,signifi-
cantlywarmer thanyearspast. Iwentto
the pilot briefing. On Fridaythe group is
splitasusual. Outof statepilotslaunch
fromtheredrockswiththeremainder
starting from the golfcourse.Karl Lowman
asks that we wait until the children arrive
beforeinflating.Thisisabigdealin
Gallup.SpottingtwobussesofkidsI
startedmyfan.
Uptothispointinthemorningmy
heart was not in this. Sporting two injuries
fromnon-balloon relatedaccidents, hav-
ing to deal with extreme cold, and still be
the leader of the group was harder than it
hadeverbeen.Wehadtowaitonthe
groundfor anadditional20minutesfor
the last bus full of children. (I saw two and
figuredtheywereallhere.) Finallyget-
tingthe“GO”signalfromthelaunch
director we were off. When I fired off the
burnerandliftedintothe air, the painin
mylegdisappeared,thenumbingcold
wasgone, and the whole world had sud-
denly changed.
ThiswaswhyI putmyselfthrough
this again and again. The viewwas breath-
taking.With two cameras around my neck
and color everywhere I looked, I was off.
Motor drives whirlingduring the silence
betweenburns,therewasacontinual
“KodakMoment”asIdriftedupand
away from the launch field. This is what
ballooningis all about.
Packing the balloonup was a slower
thannormalprocess.Someofmycrew
went shopping. You know, for those little
thingstomake life easier.Theyfound, a
bigger truck, better lift gates, lighter tarps,
basketswithsteps,bigger fans,a larger
balloon, and anenvelope-milkingdevice
that actually works.
Saturdayall200orsoballoons
launched from Red Rock State Park. There
was a north field and the usual south field.
We were packed pretty tight as we started
toinflate. TodayI noticedall of the spe-
cial shapes, includingJesus,Arky, and of
coursethetwoflyingpigs,Miss Penny
andL’il Buck. While taking picturesJesus
andMiss Pennywere close enoughto be
in the same shot. The captionJesus Saves
flashedin myheadasI tookthe picture.
Saturday afternoon we decorated our
vehiclesandrodeintheparade,eight
grown-ups acting likekids,dressing goofy
fortheentiretowntosee.Ohwell,we
don’tlive hereandmaybebynextyear
they won’t remember us.
Sundaywasaperfectdaywithan
“Extreme High Pressure” warning. Tem-
peraturewasgivenasminussevenCel-
sius.Notwishingtoonceagainappear
stupidI quietlyaskedanother pilot who
wasn’t quitesure but thought it was around
24 degrees F. I decided thatdidn’t sound
right.I asked a total of seven pilots and got
seven different answers and seven differ-
entmethodsofcalculating.Oneofmy
crew,anengineer,andcame upwith17
degreesF. The crew was notpleased.
We were once againairborne. I was
totallyengrossedinflyingandphoto-
graphing. My passengers called my atten-
tion to the “X” that we were approaching,
and that I was headed right for it. Encour-
agedby the crew I turned mytotal atten-
tion to competition. This was not an easy
task. The targetwasplacedrandomlyin
one of the canyons.We wereall givena
rough idea as to whereit was and had to try
togothatdirection. I willconfess that it
was dumb luck that brought me to where
I was, but I was really close.
I flew my balloon to within 50 feet of
center and made a toss that landed 21 feet
from the center.Pretty darn good if I don’t
say so myself. As I flew off to make way
forotherpilotsI watchedthePinkPig,
drop the baggie deadcenter! Beaten by a
flying PinkPig. Ohwell,there’salways
nextyear,andtherewilldefinitelybea
next year.
As we leave Gallup for the 17th con-
secutivetime,memoriesofyearspast
once again fill me with excitement. Three
daysof flyinginnear perfectweather in
oneofthemostbeautifulplacesinthe
world will keep myself and the rest of the
other “Lost Boys” coming back again and
again.
