Balloon Race Forest Park 190909

September 25, 2009

I went alone to Forest Park to see the launch of the balloons, and it was a trip well worth it, to see these colourful globes rising serenely and majestically into the cloudy,overcast, intermittently rainy sky. I’d been afraid that the wind would cross the 10-miles-an-hour limit beyond which the launch would be aborted, but it didn’t happen….

here

is an account of the race by the St.Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.

Here are a few balloons:

diagonal balloon 190909

There was face-painting: deb tracy face painting face painting One more: orange and red balloon and there was all the different kinds of food: another one: squares colour balloon Everywhere balloons were being inflated: balloon rising 190909 Some balloons were not to carry passengers! captive balloon Children had balloons in other shapes, too, here's SpongeBob SquarePants: sponge bob square pants It was a great time for photographers: photograph at race And cyclists: tanden cycle 190909 Some people, were, of course, on the job, and alert: cop on duty balloon race 190909 For a change, a Pepsi can was full of hot gas and not cold liquid: pepsi balloon 190909 It was funny watching it float past the Port-A-Potty line (mobile toilets!): pepsi over port-a-potty! 190909 The Energizer Bunny and the Birthday Cake never got off the ground: 190909 energizer bunny and b'day cake And ironically, American Airlines were firmly fixed to the ground, too! :) american airlines balloon 190909 (I would probably be the only one to go to a Balloon Race and take a video of the food stalls!) A 180 degree view of the balloons, a few rising, and some already well away: Here are several others: fontbonne u balloon This one was sponsored by Snapfish, which is a kind of cheese biscuit: snapfish balloon 190909 balloon with flags This one had the ship "Mayflower" on it: mayflower 190909 Of course the "American" balloon was there, too: stars'n'stripes balloon 190909 Here are three rising together: 3 balloons I caught this one as it went directly overhead: underneath the balloon 190909

As I left the field, I saw the lovely sight of this little girl and her dog, amusing themselves:

girl and her dog 190909

A very enjoyable afternoon…..I have never seen such crowds in Forest Park, and what fun it was to walk back past the cars jammed into loooong lines, on the way home!