Sophia121's Blog

Hey There!  I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago at the Forest Park Balloon Glow & Race and I'm finally posting them for you to see.  It amazed me at how much fuel was used at this event, especially with gas prices being so high.  How they could afford to fly those balloons is beyond me but I'm glad they did!  The weather wasn't the greatest though.  It was overcast with scattered thunderstorms forecast for both Friday night and Saturday afternoon.  The Energizer Bunny (Hare) wasn't able to fly either which put a damper on things too.  I'm not even sure who won the race this year.  The "Mayflower" balloon won the race last year.  

The event began with the singing of the National Anthem and the Sky Divers landing about an hour or so before dusk.  Some pretty awesome stuff.  Then they started inflating the balloons.  This was my first time witnessing the "Glow" part of the event so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I wondered if they kept the flames going constantly throughout the night but they didn't.  What happened was...there was this loud horn that signaled everyone to ignite the flames and hold it for about minute or so.  They did this off and on throughout the evening for what appeared to be every fifteen minutes.  That was a pretty amazing sight.  I imagine it would have been better had they been down by the lake, seeing the reflection of the flames off the water.  Nonetheless, it was fun! 

I was somewhat disappointed this year because of the weather for starters and then we got there late for both the "glow" and for the "race" the next day so we didn't get a good spot to sit.  At any rate, I think we all had fun.  I know I did!     Anyway...come on in and check out some of the pics I took this year!!