Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival Photos

[Crawdaddy 96]

Camped out at Lake Skinner Friday-Today. Fun festival with 40+ balloons launching each morning......25 wineries represented.......two stages with good tunes both days and moto stunt show this afternoon...

KGTV News Video Preview of what the festival is all about: http://www.10news.com/video/16513208/index.html

And now for some photos:

How do you like this ride?.....a Champagne bottle for a gas tank ......photo taken with my camera so not the best quality

Shot from the rear:

The new Aprilla Twin Dual Sport......I was telling the salesman on Friday that the turn signals stuck out WAY too far.....totally riduculous for a true dualsport......sure enough, the next morning we went back and the rear left turn signal was broken off from a simple tip over (see it dangling in this photo ).....these bikes look pretty sweet with the trick dual cylinder/dual exhuast tucked under the seat and they weigh in at ~270lbs.....but they're crazy expensive and minimal aftermarket goodies available (no desert tanks, etc.)

There were a few Choppers there too.......Kathy was ready to go for ride on this one.....but it was still kinda chilly at 6:30am on Sat.......Welp, that and the fact that she hadn't really woken up/had her coffee yet. :

A few more photos of the choppers:

This afternoon there was a moto-X stunt show with riders from the Metal Mulisha - some talented kids:

Flips have become routine for these guys....

There were two ramps side by side so you catch them jumping in both directions:

Some kid laid out before pulling it back in for the landing:

And now, some obligatory Balloon Photo's (after all it was a balloon and wine festival, not a bike show ):

Smokey the Bear was there......some geeky Smokey facts: The Smokey Balloon holds 145,000 cubic feet of air with a height of 97'. Diameter below the eyes is 55' and hat brim diameter is 72'. Balloon and basket combined weigh ~1,600lbs. Two LP burners producing 30,000,000 BRU's/hr. fly this beast.

Looking up at Smokey's smile:

Smokey wasn't the only bear.....a Panda showed up too:

Champagne anyone?:

The balloons launched each morning around 6:30 and they also had them tethered in the evening for a ballooon glow to music.......a few misc. morning shots:

Oh, and I wasn't the only Clydesdale at the event

[dirt dame 561]

Looks like balloony good fun

[Crawdaddy 96]

Link to some professional photos that show the after dark balloon glow: http://rothphotography.smugmug.com/gallery...309251794_FXfFH

[PastaPilot 17]

Cool man, looks like a real good time. Maybe next year.