Lake Havasu 13th Annual Balloon Festival - January 18 - 21st Saturday and Sunday Part 3

Saturday morning, cloudy skies again, it's supposed to be sunny.  We headed out at 7:30 to the parking lot by the London Bridge for this morning's ascension. This time we walked onto the bridge to get a different vantage point. Unfortunately the wind did not co-operate today, only one balloon managed the touch down in the canal. The rest were pushed to the east of us with the wind. It's iffy whether any of them would take off this morning, as there's a storm cell nearby. After an hour, we were both cold so called it a day. So glad we went yesterday when the favourable wind. The previous two years they did not lift off due to winds.

The Dixie Belle heading out for a tour.

The Coca Cola Balloon is the first one sent up to test the winds for the other pilots. The only balloon  able to touch down in the canal this morning

Another bunch of balloons taking off from a vacant lot

Driving back into the park we were stopped for the 5K and 10K Fun Run. The Park Warden let us drive very slowly to our Cabin Loop. 

Notice the spring boots the closest runner is wearing

Some runners had some really interesting shoes ...

Once we parked we caught the next shuttle cart to the venue. We missed the character balloons as they were already deflated. After a breakfast of fresh mini donuts we watched these little kids do their Taekwondo demonstration.

The two littles in front are only 4 years old lol

Views from this field.

The it's across to the Balloon Field, where we watched the Super Hero stunt bike team. Wow, they sure can ride those bikes and do tricks. Unfortunately, at the end of the performance one guy did a bad landing and had to be taken away by ambulence, a busted leg we think.

Ray getting ready for the "best shot"!

Here's the video from Ray's location. This one guy crashed but was ok.

After this, Ray stayed to take some more pictures of the Classic Car Display with different cars than yesterday. I took the shuttle back to camp and he followed on another shuttle shortly after.

Sweet truck

After warming up, we jumped in the car and drove back to the Havasu Ferry Landing. The ferry takes passengers across the lake to the Havasu Landing Casino in California. $4 each for a return trip. Cheap boat tour lol.

Here comes our ride.

Views from the ferry.

Not a very big casino. The service for us was terrible, the "Ray Factor" I suspect, as everyone else seemed to get their drinks and food in a reasonable amount of time. Food is just OK. The $4 is worth it just for the boat ride though.

After lunch we caught the ferry back to Havasu and drove home. We were going to go back to the venue later this evening after dinner for the Dog and Butterfly Concert (a Heart revival). We decided to have a campfire and listen from here. We could hear it quite clearly. Ray's back started to complain with all the recent walking and standing lately. I've also am done with sitting or standing in the cold today. Although they said the temps were going up today with sunny skies, it didn't really happen. It stayed cloudy and the wind dropped the temps more.

Before the fire, Ray took the car to park by the Balloon Field at 6 pm to see the Glow on the River.He wanted a spot a little further away rather than being in the midst of them. The would give him a larger perspective for shooting.

After Ray came back and ate supper, we went next door and joined our neighbours Donna and Mike for their campfire.

Mike and Donna with their puppies Ellie and Fergus.

Another great day here in Lake Havasu.

Sunday morning we woke to rain on the roof. Balloons are cancelled today with the wind and the rain. Ray needs a down day to rest his back anyways. It's supposed to shower on and off all day. Not a problem, as we have seen the balloons almost from every angle lol.

We stayed in our pj's until 10:30 lol working on the blog and pictures. Once dressed, it's off to Juicy's for breakfast. Some people on yesterday's ferry, who live here during winter, recommended it. Unfortunately it turns out to be a 45 minute wait, so we left and tried out the Black Bear Diner ... nope even more people waiting here. I noticed The Chair restaurant on the waterfront by the London Bridge yesterday. They were serving people during the balloon ascension, so off we went. Perfect, they just opened at 11 am so we were the first people in. Ray ordered fish tacos and I had the shrimp tacos, both were delicious. Of course I had a cocktail called Island Girl. Very much like a Mai Tai with lots of fruit attached. Yumm.

Coming back to the coach just before noon and it's pouring. The festival is over at 3 pm, but we saw  the main gates weren't even open when we passed by. I think the celebration will be over early with the weather. Lots of puddles on the roadways.

We planned to overnight in Quartzsite tomorrow before heading to Coachella Lakes RV Resort in California. With it raining now and in the forecast for the next 2 days, we called the resort and was able to get in a day early. We will have a longer drive tomorrow of about 3.5 hours or so. No point parking in the mud at Quartzsite.