The Creede Balloon Festival scheduled 7:00 am launches Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The balloons were launched on the tarmac at the airport which is just across the street from the RV park. We were up early each morning to watch, but on Sunday, Alan looked out the window and said there was a new balloon out there - it was white with big black letters that said CANCELLED. He hates to get up early. It is a challenge to choose which pictures to post - so many beautiful things to see.
The two pink balloons are flown by a husband and wife team. More about them later.
We were this close to the balloons as they flew over us.
A view of our truck and trailer with balloons flying over the RV Park.
You can see how many balloons were over the park. We are parked just to the left of this entrance sign.
Gizzmo was our only character balloon and it was the first one up each day.
The primo thing to do is to make a quick touch down on the water, especially where Willow Creek (on the left) flows into the Rio Grande River. This is the wife of the "pink" team. She was hooting and hollering, she was so excited. This is very difficult to do since there is no steering.
The wind was such that her husband could touch down on the water too. She was on the radio to him saying he was going too fast, so he reached out and grabbed one of those pine trees to slow himself down. There are pine cones flying in this picture as he let go.
Here he is touching down, not too gently. His wife is in the pink balloon to the left.
The water is pouring out of the basket as he lifts off.
Even though they launched on the tarmac, the runway was still open for landings.
The white rig with the window is our trailer. It was pretty exciting to have the balloons be so close.
Our neighbors when we were here in June had a mimosa, pancake and breakfast burrito party at 8:30 on Saturday. The balloons were still flying, and Alan took this picture of one of them flying right over Jon and Angela's 5th wheel as we were eating and drinking. Pretty great party planning.
There was a Salsa Fiesta and a hamburger cookout, both downtown on different days. We were too busy eating to take pictures.
On Sunday, there was a Gravity Race - kind of like a soap box derby race. The only rules were no motors or propulsion of any kind allowed and they had to be able to steer and stop. Very unique and imaginative race "cars." The main street downtown has enough slope to it, so gravity is what propels the cars.
Fish 'N' Chics was really creative.
The final event was an ATV Rodeo on Monday. There is a lot more involved in driving those things than I ever imagined, and these kids were pretty amazing. The riders had to follow several specific courses. They didn't race against each other but did race against the clock.
These mud/water puddles were a part of the course in one round. Riders were given the choice to go through the mud or around it - only one rider chose to go around!
The spectators on the left have great expressions on their faces. Closeup below.
It was such a busy weekend we are going to have to rest up to recover. Lots of fun.
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