THE OFFICIAL CHRIS LIBERTI BALLOONING PAGE

Erie Town Fair
May 16-18, 2008

It's about damn time that I updated this page!

I don't want to jinx things, but I think we have flying weather in Colorado. The spring has been windy and the weather has been iffy for most weekend flights, but we kicked off our summer rally season with the Erie Town Fair the weekend of May 16-18.

Erie, CO is a town about 15 miles North of Downtown Denver, just bordering Westminster and almost directly East of Boulder. This was our second year doing the rally and the weather was classic for the whole event. The partying was relatively classic as well.

My parents came in from Arizona for the weekend, and we started out with a media flight on Friday morning under overcast skies and calm winds. We were able to pull off a 1:30 flight, which was a far cry from the 45 minute flights we typically do in Littleton. The passengers had a good time and they liked the beer, so we may not have seen the last of them. Neil came up from Albuquerque and had his new balloon out for his first flight in it, so we were able to see it on its maiden flight. After flying and breakfast at the Barrel (dude, Cracker Barrel is the shit. If you don't live in the US, I have to be honest...I kinda feel bad for you, because you probably don't have Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel is bangin) we went home and kicked it for the day and drank some beers.

Saturday was clear and calm and the field had tons of spectators, and there were about 60 balloons for the morning launch. Dad flew the first hour of the flight, and it was odd for me to be in the truck chasing. I was hyper too, so I drove everyone nuts, and they all wanted me out, so pop landed and got out and I took a half hour hop and landed next to CRACKER BARREL!! My life is so good.

Pop getting ready to fly on Saturday

The Saturday Tailgate did not suck either, with guacamole and beer and chips and people and a sun-shade and lawn chairs. My kind of Saturday morning.

Stephanie!!

Neil and Glen taking a breather and a beer at the Saturday Tailgate in Erie

Saturday night was our first annual "Beers, BBQ and Bad Words Spring Tour" BBQ party at our house. We grilled some burgers, drank some beers, and had a smash with some of our coolest friends. No lampshades or coconut bras were taken out, but it was a good time for all regardless.

Sunday morning we had a bit more breeze on the ground, but it was manageable and we inflated and loaded up for another hour and a half flight. Despite a slightly breezy takeoff, we spend most of our flight doing less than 10 mph, and landed in a navigable 6mph wind about 10 miles NE of the field.

Getting ready to take off in Erie

The tailgate was very chill on Sunday, and after the flight we said goodbye to the crew and headed home. It was nice to get a few extra days of flying in and it was even better to be able to have family and good friends around to enjoy it with. So onward to the summer...we're getting ready for a VERY thinned out rally schedule for the summer, with our next stop in Telluride for their Jazz Festival in June. It should be an exciting time and we're looking forward to getting back up there after a 6 year absence. So until then, party safe and have a beer for me!