Plano Balloon Festival 2007

It's Balloon Festival time again! A few weeks ago I put up some photos of our trip to the Plano Balloon Festival in 2005. This week I'm using photos from the 2007 festival. If you're wondering what happened to the 2006 festival, we did go but it was too windy for the balloons to launch. Bummer!

So here's my slideshow of the 2007 Plano Balloon Festival. The video runs for about three and a half minutes so relax and enjoy!

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you want to learn more about the Plano Balloon Festival or about hot air balloons in general, take a look at my blog titled "Plano Balloon Festival 2005". You'll find it in the archive box on the right-hand edge of the page. Or you can visit my home page by clicking here.

Clouds & Sunsets

Much like any amateur photographer with little or no real talent, I enjoy taking photos of clouds and sunsets. So for my post this week I thought I would try something a little different and create a slideshow of some of my favorite ones.

These were all taken right here in the North Dallas area with the exception of one, which was taken in Nebraska. The slideshow runs for about three and a half minutes so sit back, relax, and enjoy.

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Thanks again for stopping by! You can see my other photo blogs by using the archive section on the right edge of the screen. Or you can go back to my home page by clicking here.

Old Red Courthouse

In April of 2005, we took a little trip to downtown Dallas to visit the Old Red Courthouse.. What an amazing structure! I could go on and on about this fascinating piece of history, but I can't stand the wait. Let's go straight to the pictures, okay?

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Beautiful! It almost looks like a castle from a fairy tale!
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"Old Red" was built in 1892 and was the original Dallas County courthouse.
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The courthouse is located in Dealey Plaza. Some of you may know that John F. Kennedy was assassinated as his car rode through this area.
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Here's an interesting shot, the old courthouse with an ultra-modern skyscraper right behind it.
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This is a shot from inside the courthouse. At the time we visited the building was behing was being restored so most of the interior was blocked off.
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I only recently learned that the original courthouse had a tall clock-tower rising from its center. The tower was removed in 1919 because it was feared that the reverberations from the three-ton bell would damage the building. Part of the recent restoration efforts replaced the tower so the building looks a little different today.
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They sure don't build them like this anymore. The courthouse is constructed of Pecos red sandstone, Texas red granite, and Arkansas blue granite. This thing will probably stand forever!
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This is actually the fifth courthouse to reside onthis spot since Dallas County became the county seat in 1850. It was constructed of stone and iron (even on the inside) because previous courthouses had burned down.
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I tried to find out how long this building remained in service, but there is surprisingly little information to be found on the internet. I did read that this courthouse is where Jack Ruby was tried and convicted so I guess it was still in use into the 1960's at least. If you don't know who Jack Ruby is (shame on you!) he was the man who killed JFK's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
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Look at that creepy guy!
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The term "gargoyle" literally means throat or gullet. They were originally used as waterspouts on rooftops and the water was expelled through the creature's mouth. But with the advent of rain gutters in the 18th century the gargoyle became out-moded and since then has been used only for ornamentation.
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I love those arched windows!
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Due to the restoration that was going on at the time, some of the windows were boarded up.
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I love a good silhouette shot!
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I wonder how much it costs to cool this place during the hot Texas summers. At least it's got good insulation.
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Oops! I think I was falling down when I snapped this one!
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Wouldn't it be awesome to live here?
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Well, that's the Old Red Courthouse in historic downtown Dallas, Texas. We had a great time visiting and I loved learning about the building's history. I think it's about time we got back down there to take a look at the restorations that have been done.

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If you live in the Dallas area or are planning to visit you definitely need to visit this area. Within just a couple of bloks of the courthouse you'll also find the JFK memorial and the "6th Floor Museum" which is in the old Texas Book Depository building (I'll have a pic of that on an upcoming series).

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Thanks for visiting! If you want to learn more about the Old Red Courthouse, check out their website at http://www.oldred.org/. You can see more of my photo blogs by using the archive at the right edge of the screen, or go back to my home page by clicking here.

Plano Balloon Festival 2005

Every September, the town of Plano, Texas holds its annual balloon festival. We first heard of the festival in 2005 and decided to take a look. None of us had ever seen hot-air balloons in person before so we thought it would be interesting.

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Well, let me tell you, the balloon festival far exceeded our expectations. It wasn't just interesting, it was amazing! We had both cameras going throughout the show and ended up with over 150 shots. I had a pretty hard time narrowing that down to a reasonable number of pics, but I finally did it. Enjoy!

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When we first arrived we were a little surprised that no balloons had showed up yet. After looking around for a few minutes we discovered that they were lying flat down on the launch field. They hadn't been blown up yet!

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Watching the balloons being inflated was really pretty fascinating. As the balloons filled up, they launched one or two at a time..
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An average sized balloon like these needs about 100,000 cubic feet of hot air to fill the envelope, but balloons can be much larger than that as we'll soon see.

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We were pretty excited to see this guy take off, but unfortunately it never did. They filled it up but it may have had a leak because it wouldn't stay up. They eventually let it deflate and packed it up. What a disappointing day for them!

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As each balloon lifted off from the field, all the spectators would clap and cheer. This really proved to be a much more exciting event than we had anticipated.

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The first manned balloon flight took place in Paris, France in the year 1783, Just think, people have been ballooning for over 200 years!

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It wasn't long before the sky was filled with colorful hot-air balloons.

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What a sight! Some ballooners offer rides to people if you don't mind coughing up about $250. I can't say I blame them though, an average sized balloon like these can cost from 20-30 thousand dollars. We decided to stay on the ground and spend our money on funnel cakes instead.

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I think this was the 26th annual balloon festival in Plano.

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For that first balloon flight in 1783, King Louis XVI of France ordered that convicted criminals would be used as test subjects. However, a scientist named de Rozier successfully petitioned for the honor.

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My favorites were the more traditionally rainbow-colored balloons.

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An average sized balloon including envelope, basket, burner, fuel tanks, and passengers would weight about 1600 pounds. No wonder it takes so much hot air to get them afloat!

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What a beautiful balloon!
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This fellow wandered right over our heads!
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More balloons ready for take-off
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Look at that one! This was one of the most interesting balloons of the day.
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There he goes, he made it! The basket looks so tiny beneath this huge balloon.
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Typically, hot-air balloons can't steer; they can only go where the wind blows them. When they find a suitable landing site, they come down and radio their ground crew for pick-up.

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The announcer at the show explained that sometimes the balloon may need to land on someone's private property and it is customary for the pilot to carry a bottle of wine or other suitable gift to offer the property owner.

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De Rozier, the first balloon pilot in 1783, also became the first balloon casualty two years later when his balloon crashed in an attempt to cross the English Channel .

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I would estimate that there were between 20-30 balloons that launched from the field. When the last one was airborn a second group of balloons began to set up for the evening entertainment (more on that later).

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If you've never witnessed a spectacle like this, I hightly recommend it. Remember, Plano, Texas every September!
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That red one with the white circles on it is the Target Stores balloon. If anyone from Target Corporation would like to buy this photo I'll make you a great deal!

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Look at that cute li'l guy!
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Hot-air balloons are used primarily for recreation these days and it's estimated that there are about 7,500 balloons in operation in the United States. Imagine if they all got together in one gigantic balloon festival!

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Another one of my favorites.
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Balloon teams come from all over the country for the Plano Balloon Festival. I wonder where this one came from.
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More balloons waiting to launch.
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It's hard to tell from this picture, but the Schepp's Dairy balloon is absolutely huge!
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He really dwarfs the competition. Unfortunately he didn't launch. These guys are setting up for the evening entertainment.

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After dark, the real fun began! This was really one of the most amazing spectacles I've ever seen. The launch field filled up with a second group of 20-30 balloons and performed what they call a "balloon glow".

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Eery few minutes or so, the announcer would have all of the balloons light up simultaneously. The pilots would fire their burners and all the balloons would light up like giant light bulbs. This is the kind of experience that gives you goose bumps the first time you see it!

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After a little while, they let all the spectators go down onto the launch field and walk among the balloons. Seeing them light up was incredible, but being in the midst of them while they did it was really awesome!

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In addition to lighting up simultaneously, sometimes they would perform a "flicker". All the pilots would fire their burners on and off repeatedly until every balloon on the field was flickering, each to his own rhythm. It was absolutely breathtaking!

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Words and pictures just cannot describe this experience. I'd love to catch this on video someday.
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So that's the 2005 Plano Balloon Festival! We had a great time! The festival is almost a carnival unto itself. There were concession stands set up and games for the kids and yes, of course, plenty of souvenirs available. After the balloon glow was finished a band performed for the street dance, but we decided to go home and let the kids have their fun.
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If you've never been to a hot-air balloon show, I highly recommend it. It's a great family event. If you want to learn more about the Plano Balloon Festival you can visit their website at http://www.planoballoonfest.org/.

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We visited the balloon festival again in 2007 so maybe I'll get some of those photos up here someday too. But for now you can check out my other photo blogs by selecting them in the archive at the right edge of the screen. Or you can go back to my homepage here.
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Thanks for visiting, hope to see you soon!