Freedom Weekend Aloft

I have waited all winter and spring for this single weekend. A memorial day celebration in Simpsonville featuring hot air balloons.

Freedom Weekend Aloft.

A huge crowd came out to the four day event. We went on Saturday. We parked in a huge field about a mile from the park. A long line of buses waited to take people into the park. This system worked VERY well for handling such a large crowd.Tons of things to do at the event. One of our favorites was the dog catching frisbee competition (I don't know what in the world they call it). Pretty much anyone could enter their dog into this contest. The people that did enter were amazing. These dogs have been highly trained and the trainers could probably whoop me in frisbee golf. I have lots of photos of the dogs in action. Jumping off the trainers back to catch a frisbee. Flipping in the air to catch a frisbee. One woman trainer really sticks out in my mind. She would fling that disc about thirty or more yards and the dog would be hauling to get it. She started screaming, "RUN!! GET IT!! HURRY!" And you know what? That dog hustled even harder. The dog visibly pushed and went faster. It was pretty cool.

We watched a magician and a juggler take the stage while we got a drink. The only negative to the day was how incredibly hot it was.

(Meredith tries to find some shade)

Around 5:30 or 6:00pm we headed toward the large field to see the hot air balloons. THIS is the part I was waiting for.(The crowd cheers as this balloon floats overhead. A man in the basket was cheering back to the crowd)

Saturday night was a contest. Two giant "X"'s were laid in the field. The balloon pilots had to go a minimum of one mile away, fly back toward the park, and drop a bean bag marker on the "X". Whoever got closest, wins.

This created one of the slowest races you will ever see. It also showed how much steering could really be done with a balloon. Not much at all. Most balloons drifted far to the left or to the right of the field. A few balloons got close and dropped their markers. One even lowered himself ALMOST to the ground, leaned out of the basket and dropped his marker in the middle of the "X". (the red check balloon nears the cross)

The crowd cheered for his skill at this. It was really interesting to watch this take place, and beautiful to watch the balloons coming toward us.

After the balloons landed, it was time to go. A long line of buses waited to take a long line of people back to the cars.

The festival organizers did a fabulous job. Great time.
I am about twenty minutes past my bed time, so I'm going to add pictures to this post tomorrow night. For now, you can click the box on the right and see some balloon pictures I have posted on Flickr.