Day 9, the final day of Fiesta 2022

Here we are at day 9 of the 50th anniversary of Fiesta. It was a memorable Fiesta but not always for the best reasons. Weather was an issue for many rallies in the west this year. I was expecting shorts and tank top weather and didn’t even pack for rain.

The final mass ascension wasn’t as big as Fiesta would have liked but it wasn’t raining.

pilot giving thumbs up flying hot air balloon on day 9 of fiesta — Mike Kelly giving a thumbs up for day 9

Sunday started out cloudy with lots of drainage winds. No dawn patrol or Krispy Kreme Morning Glow. The balloon of the day stood up but didn’t take off. Eventually the yellow flag did get a break and the green flag was raised. As usual, the commercial ride balloons were the first to inflate and launch along with some of the Krispy Kreme glow balloons. As the winds settled down and the clouds broke up more balloons took to the air. Some of the shapes inflated. Probably to get good and dry since many won’t be out of the bag again till next Fiesta.

seascape painted hot air balloon — Grandma’s Legacy

mouse shaped hot air balloon — Grandma’s Legacy

We finally had a sky that wasn’t just grey but I struggled to find what to photograph. The commercial balloons are almost all the same. The other balloons were all launching far apart making individual portraits the only option. So I decided to just play with taking some ICM (intentional camera movement) photos.

At last came all the goodbyes, the last of the packing and hitting the road.

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