We set multiple alarms last night to make sure we woke up at 5:00 AM this morning. We skipped coffee and breakfast and were on the road to Lake Havasu City at 5:40 AM. We were headed there to attend the Balloon Festival and wanted to be in position for the first balloon launch at 7:45 AM. The program said it would be a “mass ascension.” We presumed that meant 80+ balloons launching at the same time but that was not exactly what happened.
Lake Havasu City Balloon Festival kicks off with the National Anthem as the Flag goes airborn.
We were early enough that the $10 we paid for “preferred parking” actually got us a decent parking space. We were in position at the “balloon field” by 7:15 AM and watched the process of inflating a dozen “shaped” balloons that included a Wells Fargo stagecoach, Smokey the Bear head, Hello Kitty, and Yoda head. A trio of restored WW1 Fokker bi-planes roamed the skies overhead but we did not see any sign of any other balloons and there certainly wasn’t room for any more on the balloon field.
Fantasy balloons inflated to provide photo ops.
7:45 AM came and went and a couple of balloons launched but most remained on the ground. We then noticed a regular hot air balloon lift off from somewhere north of the festival site, and then another, and another. It was still not a mass ascension, but eventually there were a few dozen balloons in the air and drifting our way. We waited a while longer and then the various teams started deflating most of the shaped balloons. We learned later that most of the shaped balloons were inflated to provide photo opportunities and were never intended to take to the air.
Tethered balloon rides were available.
With the morning balloon launches concluded we sought out food. The balloon field was surrounded by a double/concentric ring of vendors with most of the food purveyors concentrated in one area. It was a chilly morning so we found a vendor selling coffee and got in line. After warming up we found something to eat for breakfast. We then strolled through the vendor ring but did not find anything we couldn’t live without.
There were quite a few classic cars on display and some were for sale. There was also an interesting pair of ultralight aircraft, boats, and ATVs on display and for sale. After seeing all of that we watched a dog agility demonstration. We returned to our car and had some snacks for lunch and then walked through the carnival area and bought snow cones. We were waiting for the Fokker bi-planes to do a demonstration when I got a call from our mobile mechanic, Joe Cannarozzi. He filled me in on what he has been doing and where he is headed over the next few months.
This balloon was no longer airworthy so we were allowed to go inside it.
By the time I was done talking to Joe we decided we had experienced enough balloon festival for one day. We returned to our car and I called Frank Griswold from our FMCA Great Lakes a Converted Coaches chapter. Frank and Sandy own a site at a very nice RV Resort on the north end of Lake Havasu City so we drove up there and visited with them for a while. LHC has grown dramatically in the last 25 years and is now a very modern, upscale place with a population of 55,000. We drove over the London Bridge to get to/from the balloon festival venue, which was at a resort on an island, but we did not get a good look at it.
We wrapped up our visit in time to get back to Parker in the daylight and see the amazing scenery we had missed on the drive up in the dark. We stopped for gas in Parker and filled up for $2.28/gallon. On the drive from Parker to Quartzsite we watched a long, lingering sunset that finally faded to darkness. It was another long but satisfying day.
Linda was skeptical about being photographed while eating a snow cone. 🙂