JAN 26, 22 .. PART 2/3 .. THE 11th ANNUAL HAVASU BALLOON FESTIVAL AND FAIR

I know! 

At least I know that.. I am repeating myself. 

I am well aware that many of you who follow us are busy and have lives of your own to live. As a result, there is no way that you check our blogspot website daily to see if we have published a new Post. So when you do check here, first and up front, you automatically see the most recent Post.

So here you are looking at PART 2 and maybe, just maybe wondering, where is PART 1 and what was it about?

IF you are interested, clicking onto the below link will take you to PART 1 of the HAVASU BALLOON FESTIVAL AND FAIR held here in LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ, from Thursday January the 20th until Sunday afternoon January the 23rd.

http://bobbacaps.blogspot.com/2022/01/jan-25-22-part-1-havasu-balloon.html

The world turned and Saturday morning arrived. Feeling refreshed and somewhat full of vim and vigor, after taking a probiotic (part of my regimen to recover from my diverticulitis flare up on December the 30th) I decided to return to the scene of the Balloon festival.

So out and off I went around 7:15am, in the early Saturday morning darkness, walking (about 0.8 of a mile) back to the festival just to check it out a second time. Keep in mind that during my visit on Friday, I did NOT pay the $20 entry fee to gain access into the festival grounds on the premise that I was NOT, by golly, said with a little grrrrrr! going to pay $20 just to see a Carnival. Booths of items of interest and for sale. Many displays. Various activities and presentations. A large food court.

Approaching the festival grounds. The below photos were taken from outside of the festival grounds while reaching over a fence to snap them.

Hum-m-m-m I thought to myself..

"There sure is a lot of 'action' going on inside of the festival grounds. I have never ever been at a Hot Air Balloon Festival and I may never again in this lifetime be back here! I think that, by golly, I will indeed pay the $20 entry fee so that I can see a Carnival. Booths of items of interest and for sale. Many displays. Various activities and presentations. A large food court.

I thought to myself.. "Oh My Captain! I am proud of you for reconsidering your position about NOT visiting the balloon festival because the entry fee is $20!" 

Now I am officially entitled to see.. Taa Daa.. a Carnival. Booths of items of interest and for sale. Many displays. Various activities and presentations. A large food court.

Immediately, upon entering the festival grounds, I encountered a local acquaintance!

Do any of you (there is a very slim chance here!) by chance remember Bonny (in the tie-die shirt in the center below) who I met during the VW Bus festival a week ago?

The instant I stepped inside of the festival grounds, on my right, guess who was volunteering to assist festival visitors!

"Well hello Bonny!" .. "Well hello Mister Alaska!" she replied.

Sometimes, maybe far too often for my own peace of mind, with all of the examples of mankind's inhumanity to mankind (wars and killing and crime etc) from the beginning of recorded time, I get depressed about people in general. 

Do all of you remember The Doors big hit .. People Are Strange.

Personally I think my cynicism of the human race is a male trait. After all, in my opinion, it is generally the human males who start the wars and fight with others who do not think or believe the way they do.

When I (far too often) utter some vindictive expletive about someone or some human actions in general, my eternal optimist Patti, will immediately and cheerily reply with an example of some very wonderful, caring and positive human being (from small children to elder senior citizens) who have done wonderful, unselfish things for others and for humanity in general!

To Patti's list, I would have to add the Bonny's of this world!

Are you ready to see some of a Carnival. Booths of items of interest and for sale. Many displays. Various activities and presentations. A large food court.

Here we go. A look down the aisleway after you enter the grounds.

Booths of items of interest and for sale.

A lot of vendors support the Balloon Festival.

And here we go, into the Balloon Festival,

"Oh My!" I thought to myself "Oh Come On! Did I just spend $20 to see things like this?"

It improved immediately as I walked a few steps further.

The below vendor I found to be a bit of a giggle!

No matter what you have, no matter what ails you, we have the answer for you!

From a distance we see ahead of us the below scene.

Up close and very VERY personal!

After I had already 'walked a fair bit' into, and around, the grounds, guess what happened?

"Wow! As in wowie! Oh My Goodness! What have we here?"

I am not sure IF any of you realize that the grounds the Balloon Festival is being held upon are the very same grounds that the VW Bus exhibit was held on.

The below maps do not even come close to giving you the feeling of how large this venue is!

Translation : The grounds are one notch above enormous.

"Sir?" I tentively asked "Are you by chance a courtesy shuttle for those of us who are senior citizens?"

You can clearly see three shuttles in the photo.

"Yes I am a courtesy shuttle. Hop in! Where do you want to go?"

You have to remember, Lake Havasu City has an enormous population of resident senior citizens coupled with a enormous winter population of Snow Birds from the Northern states.

And? I would venture to say that the organizational committee that puts these events together has a large number of senior citizen volunteers (such as Bonny above) who are sensitive to our senior citizen needs.

We introduced ourselves and I said..

"Neil, please take me to the farthest point on the grounds and I will walk back."

The large food court.

In the distant back ground of the below photo, look for the word SNACK, you can see the food court.

Just what your Captain needs .. A Breakfast Bomb!

Behind the above, and below food stands, is beautiful Lake Havasu.

Do you remember the charming little lighthouse you saw in the VW Bus exhibit photos. We are in the same area now.

Is Beer food? Well .. .. to some people, beer IS FOOD!

Do you all remember my $20 wrist band?

A good message. Drink Responsibly!

Various activities and presentations.

"Hum-m-m, what do I see happening over there?"

"I think I'll walk over and check it out."

Some thing is happening here. At one time, way WAY back in the early 1960's, I was a devotee of the Martial Art of Kempo Karate. 

So I immediatley recognized what was happening here by the moves the martial artists were performing.

Onward I strolled.

The above photo shows the finish line area of a 5K run!

Many Displays.

Will all of you just look at this 150 horsepower Mercury outboard motor! 

As I am beginng to say often..

Oh My, Oh My, the time has come to wrap up PART 2 of the HAVASU BALLOON FESTIVAL AND FAIR.

Still standing, Still smiling..

We are .. Cap and Patti