Oct 31-Nov 1

Oct 31st
The afternoon task was to drop a beanbag onto a target in the center of the launch field. Every pilot has to find a field/road 4 km away from the target and fly-in. Wind direction is the most important factor in this task. There were only 2 other balloons in our area when we took off, but once Derek was up, he could see all the other balloons behind him. He was leading the pack! As he approached the target, there was only 1 balloon ahead of him. He flew right in front of the cheering crowd and dropped his beanbag 15 meters from the target! The crowd were cheering and clapping, and so were we. We jumped into the chase vehicle and followed him to a nearby field, where he landed and took some children up for a short ride to the top of an embankment wall!!!! And the parents thought he was a great pilot after seeing his performance.!!! Little do they know!!!!
We walked the balloon back along the narrow embankment walkway , where we gave the children back to their delighted parents !
After we packed the balloon away, we had 1 hr to refuel, and get ready to head out to the Saga Town Welcome BBQ. Local people set up stalls and cook food for everyone. There's a stage with singing and dancing. Hawaiian dancing seems to be popular here. Our homestay family has a daughter who is taking Hawaiian dancing lessons. The stalls were offering, odon noodles, fried bread, tacos, curried potato balls, chicken on skewers, boiled eggs in soup!, french fries, cabbage pancakes, pumpkin donuts and more. Quite a selection, and each stall had huge lines.
There was even a Japanese one -man band, with bubbles coming out of his rear when he walked. He was quite entertaining, and sang a lot of English songs , but people did clear the area when he came near. Our extended host family came to the BBQ with us, ensuring that we ate as much as possible.
Nov 1st
Woke up to dark clouds, and computer showed 60% chance of rain. At the morning briefing the tasks for the day were cancelled, due to forcasted rain and wind. Derek checked the ranking board and he is in 18th position !!!! Yesterdays target drop has raised his position, so he's really happy. It rained all day and the afternoon tasks were cancelled as well. Tomorrow is looking better as far as rain goes, but winds might be a factor. The local T.V. station came over to the house for another interview, due to the great target drop and to interview the family that are hosting this great pilot!!! No wonder he loves this Balloon Event!!!!!