Hot air ballooning—like most specialized, slightly fringe, certainly expensive, and possibly dangerous activities—tends to attract fascinating fun-loving people. Hot air ballooning is truly a team sport since no balloon would ever get inflated and airborne without a small posse of wranglers and drivers who handle the balloon and literally chase it from a vehicle on the ground once it’s in the air to make sure they’re on the spot wherever and whenever the pilot chooses to land.

Before attending the regatta, we’d never been up in a hot air balloon and we were surprised to discover how similar it is to SCUBA diving. Okay, you’re not wet or breathing bottled oxygen (hopefully), but the changing buoyancy and slow pace gave us a very similar relaxed feeling.

With so many fun-loving people gathered in one place, it was no surprise that once the early morning flights were done, the tailgating begins. And by tailgating we mean full on hot breakfasts of scrambled eggs and ham and unbelievably delicious ginger pancakes cooked fresh on huge grills and served in cut glass dishes .

These folks don’t fool around when it comes to flying and they’re certainly serious about having a good time. The whole post-flight scene reminded us of the impromptu gatherings and good times we always have when we go to music festivals and that made us happy.