Soaring high with Mesquite Hot Air Balloon Fest
Under broken clouds, before the sun rose over the mountains, small test balloons rose in the slight breeze and chilly air at the Third Annual Mesquite Hot Air Balloon Festival Saturday morning. Balloonists and wannabe passengers looking to hook a ride gazed hopefully at the sky to see where the latest tiny balloon would float and how fast.
Soon, hopes soared as the weatherman and then BalloonMeister Gayle McCoy gave the go-ahead. It was a launch.
I jumped at the chance to take my second balloon ride in as many years. After shying away from it all my life, after my inaugural exhilarating experience last year I was ready to go again.
This year I got to ride in Vince Casey’s balloon. He and his wife Chris both share a love of piloting the basket. They live in Reno, NV and have attended all three years of the Mesquite Hot Air Balloon Festival. “We fly most weekends, weather permitting. We’ve flown when the temperatures were as low as minus-17 so this is a heat wave,” Casey teased about the 40-some temps.
He got his private balloon pilot license in 1998 and a year later earned his commercial and instructor license. He is self-employed as a Chiropractor so the short jaunt to Mesquite from Reno was perfect for his schedule. Vince taught Chris how to fly and now they have two balloons.
“I love the serenity of being up there. The views are awesome. It’s also a nice social event because the other guys are so much fun,” is how he explained his love of flying hot air balloons.
“It’s my therapy,” he joked. “My therapist is full of hot air.”
Explaining the test balloons sent up earlier, Casey said “It’s called a pi-ball, short for pilot balloon. It’s used to see what the upper winds are doing. If it’s too windy, the landings tend to be pretty rough.”
“It’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air rather than in the air wishing you were on the ground,” he joked.
The volunteer crew carefully laid out the tarps against the ground and unrolled the nylon fabric. David and Linda Stineman from Sun City Mesquite were part of the crew. “This is our first time to attend the festival. This is so much fun,” Linda said.
David’s brother, Larry and Mary Carroll also helped with all the preparation. “This is our third year with Vince. We just like being part of the process and learning how to set up the balloons. It’s an awesome experience.”
“We went up once and it was fun to see people running out of their houses in their pajamas, offering us coffee,” Carroll joked.
Soon, the ceremonial first balloon rose from the ground carrying the American Flag as the National Anthem played over the loud speakers.
Casey fired up the heat and filled the balloon with hot air. Next to him, his wife Chris was doing the same with her crew and balloon.
Ron and Sharon Nawara from Springdale, Utah, rounded out our basket of four. “We came down to Mesquite just for this event. It’s beautiful and fun,” Ron exclaimed.
As balloons rose all around us, the morning skies soon filled with color. Vehicles on the nearby interstate were stopping to watch. Across the highway, crowds of onlookers stood in strategic spots to take in the full glory of the day.
“Hop in and let’s go,” Casey said.
We slowly began to leave the ground behind us. The winds were taking us directly over the CasaBlanca Casino towards the golf course. We could already see half a dozen balloons on the ground around the course and the homes in Sunset Greens.
“Where are we going to land,” Ron asked.
“Hopefully on the ground,” Casey quipped.
“We’re going much faster than I really want to,” Casey remarked as he spied an empty field below. “I’m going to set it down for a little bit and see if the winds calm down.”
As other balloons including Chris’s flew by, Casey was on the radio with his chase team. They were still back at the launch site rolling up the tarps. Casey pulled the lever to release some more propane gas into the huge nylon above us. We were back in the air.
As we flew over the Virgin River all too quickly, Casey began looking for another landing site. “We’re going about 20 miles an hour and that’s too fast.”
Finding an empty field south of the river, both Vince and Chris set their balloons down side-by-side. “That makes it much easier for the chase team to get to both of us,” Casey explained.
About an hour later, with the balloons rolled up, the baskets stored, we headed back to our cars.
Another great day of flying was over.
The balloon glow on Saturday evening was a disappointment because only four balloons were ‘heating up.’ In a way I can understand why more balloons may have chosen not to participate – it’s a lot of work setting up and tearing down the behemoths. Still, last year’s balloon glow was much more fun with close to a dozen participants.
It was a blast Sunday morning watching 30 balloons once again fill the skies around town. Only this time I was on the golf course enjoying the show.
via – Mesquite Citizen Journal.
