Escapees September-October 2023

Up, Up, and Away With BOOMERS and Balloons By TINA CAPARELLA #152563

Boomers BoF Casual group for those who have a youthful mindset. Members enjoy hiking, beading, biking, reading, 4-wheel driving or just sitting around the camp fi re. See pages 80-82.

often steer the balloons over the lot after launching from the fi eld. The fi estadrew about 650 balloons of all shapes and sizes from across the world as well as hundreds of thousands of spectators! The Boomers and the Balloon Fiesta rally has a long history of providing crew members for pilots and, although crewing was not required to be a part of the rally, it certainly added to our fi esta experience. After presenting a “Crewing 101” and of fi cial fi esta safety training, Judy arranged a crew training session one morning with “Got the Hotz” balloon pilot, Steve Dereby, and his wife, Jeane, so Boomers crew volunteers knew what to expect, including terminology used in the industry. Steve’s hands-on demo the following morning showed the appreciation that balloonists have for the much-needed helpers. As veri fi edsafe ty-trained crew members, we also earned coveted “crew passes” for free admission to all Fiesta events. Boomers were up early each day (think 4:30 am alarms), as hot air balloons launched just after sunrise. Those who were crewing met with their paired pilots to assist in an array of tasks needed to get aloft balloons with names like Handstand (our pilot’s balloon), Kay’s Windwalker, SonRise, Steve the Penguin and Smokey Bear. Once a balloon is in the air, crews jump into a chase vehicle to follow along on city streets to collect the balloon and its pilot and passengers after it lands, usually in neighborhoods, cactus-covered fi elds, parking lots or occasionally a river bed! Chasing often involves quick turnarounds if a sudden change in wind pushes the balloon in a different direction.

My husband, John, and I have had some amazing adventures as full-time RVers since 2018, but a 40-year bucket list item fi nal ly checked o ff in early October 2022 ranks in the top three: The 50th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. What made our 12-day excursion extra special was camping with the Escapees Boomers BoF group, where we had a chance to crew for a hot air balloon pilot, watch balloons fl y over and land behind our fi fth wheel and to make new friends. T he experience was accentuated by Boomers and Balloons 2022 rally hosts Jenny and Chris Graham #139594, who handled the 50-plus RV reservations and all camping matters during the event, and “Cool Judy" Rinehimer #89390, our balloon crew a fi cionado and connection to pilots needing extra hands to get them up in the air. The group was kept well-informed throughout the week with Facebook posts and a few happy-hour gatherings, when weather permitted, as 2022 was one of the rainiest and mete orological unstable balloon fi estas in its 50-year history. We arrived a few days before the of fi cial start of Balloon Fiesta, under warm, sunny skies, to get settled into our dry (no hookups) campsite in the South RV lot, the best location thanks to north winds that

Photo at left: Tina and John smile as they as cend over the fi eld, safely tucked into the basket of

a hotair balloon. PHOTO COURTSY OF TINA CAPARELLA.

59

September/October 2023 ESCAPEES Magazine