Pictures & Stories
Are you wondering what the "adventures" in Balloon Launching are all about? Well, we don't like to always launch our balloons from the same location. We like to travel from place to place to increase our chances of someone finding our balloon cards. We have seen some interesting things by traveling within our local area. On this page we will post stories and pictures of things that have happened to us on our Balloon Launching Adventures.
If you have pictures or interesting stories about your Balloon Launching Adventures, let us know! Be sure to give us your name and any other information you would like us to include with your stories.
Our Stories
Story #1: A Whooshing Sound
We started launching balloons in the September of 1998. We had only launched our first balloon before we decided to go to a local state park. We had heard about this park with a waterfall, but we had never been there before. So, we packed our lunch and launching equipment and drove to Charlestown State Park, at Charlestown, Indiana. When we got there, we drove around for awhile looking for the "Picturesque Waterfall." With no luck, we asked one of the park rangers and he said the waterfall was back on a remote trail. We didn't feel like hiking down a rough trail for a peek at the waterfall, but we did go down another trail to look at a fishing site that the park ranger said had great catfishing potential. After a short hike back to the car, we explored the park for the perfect picnic site for lunch. While we were eating, we unexpectedly heard a distant "whooshing" sound. We didn't know where it was coming from or what could be creating this unusual burst of sound . Every few seconds we heard another "whoosh". We hurriedly finished our lunch, and jumped into our SUV to try to find where this unusual sound was originating. We kept the windows down and tried to track the sound. We turned a corner into a field and there it was! A giant, dark blue, hot-air balloon! It was tethered to a truck. To our surprise, there was a group of people was standing under it. After we realized the group was taking rides, my friend, Jim, got out and asked the group leader of the activity if there was any possibilty that we might have a ride. We asked if they would let us have a ride. They more than welcomed us! They helped us climb right in and we floated about 100 feet into the air. Neither of us had ever been in a hot-air balloon before. We were above every tree and we could see for miles in every direction. It seemed like the wind was blowing harder than on the ground. The pilot or aviator of the balloon said that when you are actually moving you can't feel the breeze because you are moving at the same speed. After a few minutes we descended to the ground. We thanked them for the ride. We were so excited after our first hot-air balloon ride that we almost forgot to launch our own balloons! After we launched a few of our balloons, we decided to head for home. Not only was it our first Balloon Launching Adventure, but also an adventure to experience a ride in a real ride in a hot-air balloon.
Story #2: BOATS!
On our next adventure we journeyed to the Ohio River for some fishing and Balloon Launching fun. It was a very breezy day. While our lines were still in the water and needless to say without a bite, we noticed a large steam boat across the river near the Louisville warf.
The Bell of Louisville and the Star of Louisville were both moored next to this larger Paddlewheeler. We got our binoculars out to get a closer look at the larger vessel.
We discovered that the boat was the Mississippi Queen! A huge luxury paddlewheeler. We don't know why it was in Louisville at this time, but what a sight to see! We were very thrilled when we began to hear the calliope as it pulled away from the dock. Jim was inspired as they played "My Old Kentucky Home" as it pushed its way up river.
After awhile, Jim caught the first fish, a catfish. The wind started to pick up when we noticed a sail boat across the water. A few minutes later, we saw another sail boat, and then another. Before we knew it, more than a dozen bright colors were circling the bridge columns! We watched them for awhile until we realized that we probably wouldn't catch anymore fish today with the wind so strong. We put our fishing equipment away and got out our helium tank. It was still very windy and our first balloon flew directly into a tree and burst. However, we were able to retrieve the balloon card. We backed away from the tree to make another attempt at a launch, but we didn't realize that we had backed up directly under another tree. Again, we were held up by arms of Mother Nature! To retrieve our Balloon Card, we had to resort to using one of our fishing rods with a stone attached to the line and casting into the branches to dislodge our Balloon Card. After we finally managed to get a balloon airborne, we packed up and headed for home.
Story #3: A Poem
2/18/99 -
On an early spring morning we rise. The dim landscape
under a moist guise. We inflate our balloon and tie our
string tight. In hopes that it will be found, it might.
We release our balloon, into the spheres. Wondering
where it will land turns our gears. Although
our balloon may not circumnavigate*, any distance shall
be great.
* Circumnavigate: to sail around the Earth.
Stories by Other Balloon Launchers
Send us your Balloon Launching stories! This could be something you had never seen before or just something that happened during your Balloon Launching Adventures!
Pictures
We have photographed a few of our balloons in the air. Click on any picture to see a larger version.
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If you have any photos of your Balloon Launching Adventures that you would like for us to post on our site, we would be happy to hear from you. Make sure you e-mail your photos in either .gif or .jpg format.