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I've never been to a hot air balloon festival and we have one of the largest in the world (over 80 hot air balloons) just 116 miles south of my home, so I decided to take my service pup Ruby and go see what it was all about. We left home at 2:30 am and drove south to Colorado Springs, Colorado - elevation over 6,000 feet and in the shadow of Pikes Peak - elevation 14,110 feet. We arrived at 4:30 am and got free parking because we arrived before they were ready to take money. I parked my big Dodge 4x4 pickup truck right on the grass next to the Mike's Camera tent. No one was there when I arrived so I had a primo parking spot! I walked Ruby then put her to bed in the back seat and got my lawn chair out and sat in front waiting for things to happen. The trucks and vans towing trailers with balloons began arriving about 6:00 and people were beginning to wander in so I began shooting before sunup. I wanted to not only shoot balloons in the air, but also the crowd, the inflation of the balloons and especially get some closeup telephotos of the gondolas, pilots and passengers. The gondolas ranged from something that resembled a lawn chair for only the pilot under the balloon to huge baskets which could hold a doze or so passengers. Hopefully this will give people like me who have never been to an event like this a feel for the festivities. Lin And an abbreviated little fun show below Lin