Hot Air Balloon Festival

Yesterday I went to Indianola for the Hot Air Balloon Festival. I googled-mapped directions and got going REALLY early in the morning so I could watch the balloons be blown up.

I left the apartment around 6am and according to my directions it took about 45 minutes to get there.

Well, I'm not sure what happened, but I missed pretty much every turn I was supposed to make and as a result ended finding all sorts of random country roads - most of which weren't paved. There were cows to my left, corn to my right, rocks under my tires, and fog was drastically altering my visibility. It was a party.

I have NO IDEA how I actually ended up finding the balloons. I actually found the balloon launch site which wasn't at all what I was trying to find, but it worked out much better. It was very exciting. I was basically driving and then pulling over and taking pictures.

The problem with not following the directions to get there is that when you try to use them to go home, nothing really looks familiar and that doesn't exactly boost your confidence. After turning around three or four times (and watching my gas tank empty) and making a couple of phone calls, I sorted myself out and was able to get home just fine.

Actually, I think getting lost is kind of fun. Heck, I found a super awesome golf course where I watched the sunrise through the fog, beautiful farm land, and all sorts of cool stuff. Plus, I was DARN proud of myself for figuring it out.

Here are the pics!


Fog over the city - if you look super close you can see the Principal Building


Sunrise at the golf course