Finally: hot air balloon videos

I took these videos at the KC hot air balloon invitational
in Gardner, KS on Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy!

A balloon being inflated  /  A balloon being launched

Night fire 1  /  Night fire 2

Memorial Day Celebration, part 1

   In honor of Memorial Day, the 2nd annual Kansas City Hot Air Balloon Invitational is being held at the aptly-named Celebration Park in Gardner this weekend. I talked Kelly into going with me, and we sat in the grass on a hill with the dogs & ate barbecue & watched the balloons inflate & take off, a few at a time. The cool thing was that you could actually get close enough to touch the baskets, talk to the pilots (is that what they're called?) and feel the heat from the burners. If you were anywhere near the field, you were surrounded by the 28 balloons. So glad the shibas didn't freak out, although it would have been understandable given all the chaos. Good dogs! And huge thanks to Kelly for shiba-wrangling for me so I could get up close to the action.

After dark, a bunch of the balloons lined up for "night fire," where they took turns illuminating the balloons with the burners. It was magical!

My videos:

A balloon being inflated  /  A balloon being launched

Night fire 1  /  Night fire 2

 Local coverage: KCTV5  /  FOX4KC  /  NBCactionNEWS 

Memorial Day Celebration, part 1b

Here I was at my first hot air balloon event. Everyone was eager to show off their flying contraptions (note to self: pat self on back for buying a 20x zoom lens):

The crowd gathered around the field as nearly 30 balloons were set up & inflated. There were so many balloons participating in the 7 pm mass ascension that it was impossible to catch all the action. Quite a spectacle, and well-worth the 40 minute drive to Gardner!

"I can blow a balloon too, Mom!"

Most of the balloons were set up behind their owners' pickup trucks, with the baskets just behind the truck bed:

Rather than taking off, these balloons were being set up for "night glow." I had no idea how cool THAT was going to be... we were in for a treat!