... at Callaway Gardens. Held at the Gardens/Resort in Pine Mountain, GA for twenty years. Oddly, I was never much interested in going, until daughters thought they wanted to volunteer, leading me to think I might be missing something entertaining, so I volunteered too! I've been for several years, holding the basket steady for paying customers to get in and out as the pilots take people on a two minute tethered ride. It sounds like it should be great fun, but basically the volunteer is dead weight. When someone asked yesterday how I got my job, I said I had to go to 'ballast school.' Not sure if she took my response seriously or not, but I had a very dead-pan delivery, though the pilot nearly fell out of the basket laughing.
The balloonists started the tethered flights early in the morning and and had to quit about 10 a.m., when the sun was up enough to create thermal air currents making flight risky Before the envelopes were inflated, the baskets (probably called by some technical term like gondolas?) were securely tied to vehicles parked out on the field for the express purpose of keeping the balloons close to the earth. The teams packed up their gear, disappointing hundreds of wishful customers who had been waiting for their turn to take a two minute ride forty feet up in the air.
The balloon teams came back out around four thirty, hoping they might begin providing rides again. The wind was a little too strong, causing teams to wait until nearly six to get started again. There were so many customers awaiting an opportunity to go up in a hot air balloon, pilots were told they could stay and provide the brief excursion as long as they wanted to keep at it.
I think I heard some years ago, when I first started volunteering for the Labor Day event, that Callaway Gardens provides all the propane the pilots use to heat the air in the envelope to float. Which would be an excellent lure for getting people who are balloonists to come and participate in the weekend. I imagine with all the equipment and financial investment in upkeep of vehicles plus constant travel/living in motels every weekend, it can become a very expensive hobby. The guy I was working with lives north of Atlanta, reported he is 'retired', when I asked if ballooning was a full time job. His balloon is an promotional gimmick for real estate sales: RE MAX, and was the only one I saw yesterday with advertising on it. He told someone, when a customer asked, the one he was using on Saturday was small compared to the others on the field, but he has six more. I assumed all had advertising for property sales on them, guessing he has a contract to attend festivals promoting the company. He also said they have a 'life span' and when they start to wear out, they get thrown away. UV rays are hard on the nylon, and the constant packing and unpacking must be rough on the thousand of stitches in the hundreds of seams.
I was amazed at how long lines of people were standing waiting for the opportunity to take the brief excursion into the atmosphere. Families, people with small antsy children, and drooping, wretchedly hot, panting grandparents, hoping for an opportunity to pay ten bucks for a two minute ride. I thought I would melt, out there in that big blistering field with no shade.
By late afternoon, when the sun was still up high enough to be blazing hot, I had probably consumed two quarts of water, and never a thought of needing to take a break for run to the porta-potty. It was so sweltering, I had thoughts of spontaneous combustion - all the necessary components needed for fire were there. We were all so thankful when the sun finally went down below the pine trees across the lake, finally providing some relief. I had helped the pilot and crew (his daughter and one other worker) pack up when they quit mid-morning, and unpack/prep., refill envelope with huge fan when they were preparing to start up again in the afternoon, but left before they quit for the day. A thirty minute drive home in the dark and straight to bed.
PS.... that doofus person in the tie-dyed bucket hat in the first photo, with envelopes inflating in the backgound: me. Before I got so hot I considered the likelihood of spontaneous combustion. And I was well dressed compared to some of the different pilots and their crew.
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