Balloons

This morning I woke up early - though not as early as I would have liked. When I walked out my front door at 6:15am after rushing to dress and grab my gear...

The sky was filled with balloons! Like this one...


And this one...


I hopped in the car and instead of heading to Jewell (where the balloons were lifting off) I drove and parked a short distance away, off 15th Street just east of the school. I had a good view of the ones still lifting off and others that were already drifting over Bend.

Since the balloons were headed North, I started driving that general direction, ultimately arriving at Mountain View High School. Along the way I made some stops. At Hal Puddy park, one balloon hovered over the soccer/lacrosse field. Some more good photo op's came at the Hertz Car place on Hwy 20, where "Skyscraper" landed. I passed the Re/Max balloon, which had landed on the sidewalk of NE Savannah near Pilot Butte. After I arrived three balloons landed at the high school ("WWJD", "Independence", and "Rise and Shine"). I arrived right as two balloons landed and watched as the crews got to work stabilizing them and then packing up. It's fascinating to watch that huge balloon get packed into that teeny little bag!

And after all that activity (check out the photos) I was still home by 8:30am... plenty of time to shower and change before meeting a friend for breakfast at Jake's. (Yumm... marionberry french toast!)

Tonight is the Night Glow at the Old Mill District. I'll be the one with a camera in one hand and a (martini? glass of wine? beer?) in the other. Hope to see you there!