My First Balloon Rally

Just got home from, "The Great Prosser Balloon Rally", in Prosser, WA! What a fantastic time and my flight on Sat. was awesome! Such a beautiful valley to fly....vineyards a plenty and just the lush green all over the place. Didn't get to splash and dash in the river....too many river hogs...but maybe in a few weeks when I go back near the end of Oct. for some friends Spooktacular Balloon weekend in Prosser!
Anyway, I flew a man that had never flown in a balloon before. His name was Jim and he is a fixed wing pilot and builds planes for a living. Just after take off he asked how many years I had been flying......as I giggled to myself, I said, "This is my 3rd flight since getting my pilot license on Aug. 18", his response, "REALLY?" (yes his eyes were wide open). I then laughed and and told him that I wouldn't have a license if I wasn't able to take off, fly the balloon and land.
He then just chattered on asking all kinds of questions.
We landed softly on Lois' land (she was one of the original event starters) and then she came back to the field and tailgated with us!
All of my housemates for the weekend were TONS of fun! After packing up after tailgating, we went back to the house, cleaned up, unhooked trailers and off to the winery's we went! We only hit about 5 as some were having "private parties". Most were okay, I'm still partial to T3!
This morning we got up and the weather wasn't the most favorable to fly. A few pilots did, but I said, "no go". None of my close pilot friends flew, just way too many unknown factors.
We all went out to breakfast and then back to slowly pack up and head home.
I had such a fantastic time, the only missing component....my Barney.....he spent the weekend getting the trailer painted on the inside and studying for his state EMT exam next Saturday. Anyway, my first rally was a great time, especially since I got to spend it with such a great group of balloonists!