You Don’t See This Everyday In Southeast Minnesota

My wife and I woke up to kind of a cool site above the tree line in our backyard, right outside our bedroom window Saturday morning.

Yes, it was about 7 a.m. on Saturday when there were three hot air balloons visible right above the trees in our backyard, all slowly rising in the calm morning air. It makes sense, seeing as the 26th Annual Rochesterfest Mayor's Cup Invitational Hot Air Balloon Race took place that morning.

The balloons launched from Badger Ridge Park in northwest Rochester, which, as the crow flies, is only a few miles from our house. So, seeing as were weren't too far from the launch site, the prevailing wind currents were apparently just right to take three balloons near our house.

Have you ever been up in a hot air balloon? My wife and I took a flight in one out in Napa, California when we were vacationing out there a few years ago. It was a pretty cool experience. It was amazing to me how everything is completely silent when you're up there-- except when they hit the propane burners to achieve more lift, that is.

Those babies are loud!  In fact, the it was the sound of those burners that initially woke my wife up. After she woke me up, I ran out to our deck to take these pictures. Other than the occasional Roscoe's BBQ balloon, it's a site you don't see too often here in southeastern Minnesota!