Memorial Day Weekend

[SoCalli V8]

I met Skip and Cherie in Florida when I was visiting my family that flew over from England, they are absolutely wonderful people to be around. We also had a nice barbyQ at Dumb-ladies house, and Skip and Cherie joined us.

Skip advised us to go ballooning with the http://orlandoballoonrides.com/video.html and we all went ballooning together, us in our large (Cadillac) cruiser balloon and skip in his home made "custom sport balloon" (insert any sports car here, Ferrari would be appropriate)

If you have never experienced this awesome feeling before, > put it on your need to do list.


Skippy`s Astro, and inflating his smiley balloon at 6am in a field in Central Florida.




What an awesome sight, this is where Smilie Safari gets his name from, and we all had a nice champagne breakfast together when we landed. I had such a fantastic time.





Skip, Cherrie (in the front) and I at Dumb-ladies barbyQ.







DL and Socalli V8 preparing in the kitchen, before our guests show up








Skip`s balloon hauling Astro.

[astroturf]

Met with Skip.Got pic's,but can't post them until I get my XP computer repaired.There is a lot to know about flying these balloons.I had tons of questions for Skip.He explained how the wind can effect the balloon at different heights the direction of the balloon.That there is a meet where guys have to drop a item on a target and if the raised up go in one direction and then lower down to come back to the target.Simple things that where covered during the pilot's meeting of where the outlets of the park bridges are for the chase vehicles.They had a old TV station truck there with the boom the raised up as a weather station with radar and wind speeds.Up to the time I was there they couldn't launch because of wind conditions.

Skip and his wife are really good people and I very much enjoyed the meet.

KEWL...

[astroturf]

Gary, Did ya get to go up in the Balloon???