Balloon Fiesta 2009

That's where we went. We've lived here for years but never have gone. I almost thought we weren't going to get to anyway.

When we got there we were directed to handicap parking that was waaaaay up on a steep hill. It was uneven gravel located next to a nice and neatly paved RV area. Can you believe that crap? Pavement for the RV's but rocks really (cause gravel is usually the same size and kind of rock.) for the handicap.

There was a guy on an ATV who was directing us. Our handicap minivan is way low to the floor and we could hear our muffler scraping the ground. He was shaking his head because I wasn't driving fast enough and he came up to us and started barking at us. I cut him off to tell him that this parking wasn't going to cut it because Hubbins chair wouldn't even be able to go over the gravel. You know what he had the audacity to say?

"Well this isn't the mall, it's the balloon fiesta."

To say I was livid was an understatement. I had gone online and researched the site and studied the maps, etc... It clearly states :

"Is the Park handicap accessible?

Yes. We have handicap parking on a hard surface close to entrance gates available for the regular parking fee every time you park as well as scooters and wheelchairs available to rent. There are also shuttles that run the length of the Park."

Lies, lies, lies...and the shuttles, they were golf carts. I'm trying to keep my composure as I type this but they were golf.carts.

The guy at the gate was so sorry that they weren't able to accommodate us. He was going to pay us back our parking fee out of his own pocket. I wouldn't let him. Apparently parking is ran by the Kiwanis Club and is a separate entity from the balloon fiesta. The poor guy from the fiesta who was trying to help was getting the run around. He told us that there WAS parking right up by the front gates and he directed us which way to go.

The parking people were so exceptionally rude. There was ONE person who helped us, but this was after the fact, after they kept shaking their heads and waving their arms frantically trying to get me to pull into normal parking spaces. We have a handicap license plate, but they were going to deny us because they didn't see the blue decal hanging from the rearview mirror. Nevermind that Hubbins is sitting there on the passenger side in a 300 lb electric wheelchair. Whatever.

Anyhow, we ended up finally driving around the park after an hour and 15 minutes. So much for being early. We were able to park right across from the ticket sales windows because at that point, I just made my own parking space. By this time Hubbins spasms were already kicking in.

We went in and the level of rudeness towards Hubbins was incredible. Yes, it was crowded. But people would walk right in front of him after seeing him. He drives with his chin and every time he had to "hit the brakes" not to hit someone he gets shifted in his chair which is bad for sores and pressure. I felt bad for him. We had about 5 people out of the thousands stop and let him through. Those people were so nice.

The kids on the other hand had a blast. We walked under the balloons. Unfortunately, I didn't get very many pictures because I need a real camera that takes pictures at night. lol And because of all the trouble he had, I didn't even get a picture of Hubbins :-(

Darth Vader going up.

He's up!

Various Balloons!

I should of went around and got the front of Nemo but there was just too many people!

What most of my pictures ended up looking like. lol!

I love this last one. There was a cowboy and a cow girl on stilts. The cowboy walked away. So they went to take a pic with the cowgirl. Look at the boy's face. He DID NOT want to take a pic with her.

Are you ready for the reason?

He honestly believed she was a giant and he was terrified of her.

LOL!