The air was hot but not inside the balloons.

Did you miss the 30th Annual South County Hot Air Balloon Festival? Don't worry if you did. You can go next year. We almost missed it. We found out about it Saturday afternoon and missed most of the really good stuff when we visited for a few hours Sunday afternoon and evening.

Sadly, the wind blew briskly all day so there were no balloons aloft. Neither was there a sign saying there would be no balloons. At least not that we saw. After spending a couple of hours watching the Flying Wallendas' High Wire Act, Hot Dog and Sue-Wee Pig Races, some jugglers and visiting a petting farm we concluded there would be no hot air balloons.

We finished our carnival-style hot dogs and doughboy and started discussing heading home when we spotted a family maneuvering a hot air balloon basket. Upon closer inspection we learned the family had landed in a tree farm the day before and were laying out their balloon to inspect for sap damage. Yippee for us! Even though we missed the spectacular stuff, we had a great time.

A large fan was used to partially inflate the balloon enough to inspect it.
You can see the basket laying on it's side and the balloon extended in front of it.

Looking inside the balloon as a fan blows air inside.

The owners encouraged us to touch the balloon and answered lots of questions. They even enlisted Joel's help when finished with their inspection and deflating the balloon.

We were told there are bigger balloons than this one.

Will even got to help.

The people in the background are standing at the other end of the balloon.

Judging from Joel's grin, I think he enjoyed helping.

Ellie is never content on the sidelines.

Joel and Will helped squeeze air out of the balloon.

Carrying the balloon to it's storage bag.