Since moving to the Upper Valley, I've been interested in attending the annual Quechee Balloon Festival and finally had a chance this year - as a volunteer! The day started out slow (reading, etc.) but I was eventually ready to leave the house. First, I drove to White River Junction (I-89 and US-5) to see if I could get into the UVAC pool 15 minutes earlier than my 1100 (30 minute) swim lane reservation. I was successful and managed to get the 45 minutes (52 lengths) I normally do. After getting done (1130), I cleaned up and drove to Quechee (I-91, I-89, US-4, Quechee Main Street). I was able to park by the covered bridge (free) and then walked around nearby (Ottauquechee Trail). Eventually, I entered the Festival grounds with my volunteer wrist band and walked around the grounds for about 45 minutes. At 1230 (15 minutes early), I checked in with the rest of the volunteers for the 44th Annual Quechee Balloon Festival. I had planned to be a "re-entry" wristband checker but got reassigned to work at the ticket both with my friend, Jenn (from UVAC). For the next several hours, we took money (including credit card machine), scanned QR codes (pre-paid) with iPad, stamped kids' hands with balloon ink stamp and tried to direct people to various places inside the Festival. Mostly, this was an easy job but I was never able to sit down for a rest and often found myself alone while Jenn was helping the organizers with some kind of pop-up task. There were only a few unreasonable people but they were minor blips in the day's activities. My volunteer session ended abruptly when the lady in charge of cash closed the line - after that, everyone was free. By 1615, I was done volunteering and was able to walk around. I checked on my car, bought a grilled cheese sandwich from "Cheesy Tomato" (came with cup of soup) and then explored some more of the tents. I found a new winery (Vermont Vines in Springfield, VT) and tasted several more drinks (Frontenac, Frontenac Gris, Marquette, Sabrevois, Edleweiss and Prairie Star. I enjoyed hearing the story about how the vineyard had been started from grapes at an abandoned winery. Watched the Re-Max balloon going up and down ($25 rides). Later, though, there was nothing in the fields. Figured out then that I'd be waiting until 1800 for the "real action". I got a corn dog and was eating it while exploring. Surprisingly, I kept getting approached while walking around because I had a volunteer shirt on... Along the way, I met a retired LDO/TAR/C-130 CO from Daytona Beach, FL and had a great chat with him. Also helped a lost kid and got to listen to some great music. Finally (1800), I got to watch 12+ helium-filled “flowers” as they bloomed on the Quechee Green and soared into the air! The whole experience was very uplifting and I am glad I waited to see them go. By 1900, all balloons were aloft and I started walking back towards my car. I had to wiggle my way out of the parking lot because of the double/triple parking around me but managed to get back on US-4. I'd thought about going to a Night Hawks (baseball) game or going kayaking but realized I was quite tired. Instead, I drove all the way home on I-89 and made it to my condo by 1930. Outside, I spent time chatting with Beth and Ann and helped them with e-bike rack install. What a great day!
