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A day in the life of a hot air balloon.

October 3, 2016 by Avogadro Mole

Originally published in 2010

My second year at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!
(Pics taken on different days.)

I took Amtrak from LA to Albuquerque, arriving Friday, October 1. Up at 4am. Yes, 4am. Showered, caffeinated, dressed, and out the door by 5am. Karen, Kevin and I head for the mess tent, where the pilots and crew get fed breakfast and discuss the weather. Out on the launch field no later than 6:30, to find our spot, and get ready to unpack. The sun isn’t up yet, and I’m bouncing around with several hundred other balloon teams, getting ready for the day’s excitement. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Balloons

Morning Balloons

August 8, 2016 by Avogadro Mole

Why I get up at 4am Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Why I get up at 4am
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Dawn Patrol, Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Dawn Patrol, Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Mass Ascension, Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Mass Ascension, Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Filed Under: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Balloons, Beauty

Rising Elephants

June 6, 2016 by Avogadro Mole

I love the way this elephant rises and turns, like he’s staring at something on the ground.

Rising ElephantRising Elephant
Rising ElephantRising Elephant
Rising ElephantRising Elephant
Rising ElephantRising Elephant
Rising ElephantRising Elephant

Filed Under: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Balloons

Balloons Filling, Rising, Floating Away

October 5, 2015 by Avogadro Mole

Balloons fill, rise, float away.

Rising Balloons 1Rising Balloons 1
Rising Balloons 2Rising Balloons 2
Rising Balloons 3Rising Balloons 3
Rising Balloons 4Rising Balloons 4
Rising Balloons 5Rising Balloons 5
Rising Balloons 6Rising Balloons 6
Rising Balloons 7Rising Balloons 7
Rising Balloons 8Rising Balloons 8
Rising Balloons 9Rising Balloons 9
Rising Balloons 10Rising Balloons 10
Rising Balloons 11Rising Balloons 11
Rising Balloons 12Rising Balloons 12
Rising Balloons 13Rising Balloons 13
Rising Balloons 14Rising Balloons 14
Rising Balloons 15Rising Balloons 15

Creative Commons License
This work by Lin Daniel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Filed Under: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Balloons

The Day I Flew

June 1, 2015 by Avogadro Mole

Warning! Flying in a Hot Air Balloon Can Be Immediately Addicting!
I was addicted the first time I saw balloons fill, rise up, and fill the sky. I didn’t realize the Balloon Fiesta ran for ten days, not just one extra large weekend. So the first time I went to Albuquerque, in 2009, I had to turn around and head back to LA for a client meeting on Tuesday. As I stood that last morning on the launch field, looking at the balloons streaming northward, I said to my friend Kevin, in a quiet voice, full of conviction, “I’ll be back!” He chuckled, hearing in my voice that I was hooked.

Yeah, I was addicted.

The Day I Flew

My friend Kevin is tall enough, his head’s up close to the burners. So he flies with a leather aviator’s hat, in a style worn by WorldWarI pilots. Balloon Fiesta 2010, we’re sitting around the breakfast tables, at the pilots’ breakfast, some of us sharing flight info, crazy stories and the like, while others (waves hand here) are simply trying to wake up. It’s 5-bleedin’-o’clock in the morning. The sky is barely showing signs of the existence of a sun.

I’m handed something.
Blink. WTF?

It’s Kevin’s aviator cap. I look up and across two tables. Kevin is smiling at me, an “I’ve got a secret and I’m going to share it with you” smile. He said, “You’re going to need that today.” I was going to fly! I was happy enough to almost be able to fly without a balloon.

Ready To Launch

Ready To Launch

Flying!

Flying!

There’s very little sense of motion in a balloon, except maybe up. It felt very much like the world was moving, not me.

First Pic From The AirFirst Pic From The Air
First Pic From The Air
Balloons On The GroundBalloons On The Ground
Balloons On The Ground
Balloons On The GroundBalloons On The Ground
Balloons On The Ground
Moving Up...Moving Up...
Moving Up...
And Up...And Up...
And Up...
And UpAnd Up
And Up
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of BalloonsSky Full Of Balloons
Sky Full Of Balloons
Balloon Down And DelfatedBalloon Down And Delfated
Balloon Down And Delfated

SkyAndBalloon

Sky And Balloon

 

 

 

It doesn’t get much better than this.

 

 

The end of the flight

There are no pics of our landing, as we were braced for impact. The winds on the ground were fairly high, judging by watching the other balloons coming down. So everybody but Walter, the pilot, had hands hanging on and feet braced.

Remember at the start, when I said I was afraid of heights? Fortunately for me, we came in with my back to the ground. I think I would have completely freaked if I’d been able to see the reality.

BounceAndDrag

Bounce And Drag

We bounced three times, and dragged for a total landfall of 220 yards. Kevin paced it off, and came back to cheerfully inform me that we had beaten his record of 120 yards. Swell.

Deflated Bembel

Deflated Bembel

We had to come down fast. On the other side of that ridge is a construction site with lots of equipment and partially constructed buildings. Walter either took us down now or we would have to go back up and find another spot. So down we came. Hard.

ChaseTruckAnd here comes our chase truck. Just proves chase trucks can go anywhere, even the middle of acres and acres of construction.

 

In a ceremony of fire, earth, and water, I am reborn as Baroness Lin of Fast Morning Winds and Sandy Landings.

RenamingCeremony

Renaming Ceremony

When ballooning first became a thing in Europe, laws were passed in some places that only the aristocracy can fly. Ritual among some balloonists that someone who is no longer a balloon virgin gets his/her hair set on fire and renamed. Fire is immediately rubbed out with dirt (in this case, sand), and if necessary, water. It’s difficult to light hair on fire with a Bic, unless it’s been dyed. Mine was. Instead of the *flick* *flick* *flick* Walter does before someone’s hair finally cooperates, I heard *flick* WHOA!, and a whiff of scorched hair went by. Walter scrubbed the back of my head energetically with sand, and Gaby, his wife and ground crew chief, poured water over the spot (that water bottle you see to the left). Fortunately, it was sand, so I didn’t immediately have mud in my hair. One more benefit of having curly hair: I couldn’t tell where I’d been scorched.

Would I do it again?

HELLS YES!

Filed Under: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Beauty

My Favorite Quotes

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.

— Charles Kingsley

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Years of Nattering

2018

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2016

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2015

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About Avogadro

Sanity is the trademark of a weak mind. — Mark Harrold

Avogadro's Number and I go 'way back. When I first started writing in what might be considered a blog precursor, a fanzine, I called my 'zine "Avogadro's Number". Named after...[more...]
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