Great Texas Ballon Race

Saturday Lara and I got up at 4 a.m. to get ready and meet Mom at 5 to head to Longview to watch the hot air balloons participate in the Great Texas Balloon Race. I had heard about it and figured it would be a fun little adventure plus I had a couple other things I could get done while I was out and about and it would make for a fun girls trip. Lincoln had to work Friday night so by the time he had gotten off work we were already at the Longview Regional Airport waiting for the hot air balloons to pass over us.  It was really neat!  I had never seen a hot air balloon in person and they are HUGE.  The balloons are so big and the way the driver/pilot controls them is amazing.  Not to mention those things can haul some serious ass when needed.  I bought our tickets before hand at Brookshire's (local grocery store) for $12 and I think it was so worth it.  I would love to go back next year at night to see what they call the Glow, where all the balloons are staked off but they blow up their balloons and the fire from the burners light up the inside creating the "glow" effect.

After the balloons it was only like 7:30 so we headed out to find a Starbucks and then we were off to Tyler. (more on that in the next post)

P.S. I was really really looking forward to this little adventure and was so excited when we were there.  Mom and Lara were skeptical the entire week and weren't sure if they wanted to go but I finally coaxed them into it and by the end of the balloon race Mom was ready to find a pilot to take us up in a balloon for a ride.  Needless to say we all really enjoyed the experience and the time together even if it was at the ass crack of dawn.