Lewis River Dixie at the Battle Ground 1/2 Marathon

Sunday morning, Lewis River Dixie played at the 1st Annual Battle Ground 1/2 Marathon, and we had a blast . . . it was one of the funnest gigs we've had in a while.

The 13 mile race started at 7AM from Battle Ground Village; we set up in the Town Square and, after sufficient coffee, we began playing around 6:45. Although the weather has been rather hot lately, this was early enough that we actually had trouble playing due to cold. At 7:00 the Mayor of Battle Ground started the race, we played Saints, and . . . 300 runners disappeared. In addition to the band, the only people around were the Mayor, 3 or 4 people serving coffee, and the crew of a hot air balloon that had set up in the field next to us.

We watched as the balloon crew went up and down on their tether, basically to keep the balloon inflated. After some discussion about who is and who is not scared of heights (Noel is terrified, we discovered), Jim, Star, Robin, Carol, and Debbie all walked over to the balloon to get rides. As Carol and Star were ascending, Laura, Bob, Noel and I played 'Just a Closer Walk with Thee' for them. The balloon went up 100 feet or so, hovered for a while, then descended to pick up another pair of people.

Finally, the rest of us walked over to the balloon. Debbie and I were the last pair to go up. I was a little surprised at the construction. The basket is actually wicker, and does not have a door. There is a hole in the wicker that is used as a step, but the only way in or out is to climb over the wall (3 1/2 feet high, perhaps). The floor was plywood. The gondola was just big enough for Debbie and I, the two pilots (one seemed to be in training) and 2 large (10 gallon?) propane bottles.

It was a blast. As the balloon picks up off the ground, there is absolutely no sense of motion or flight. The ground just slowly gets . . . smaller. In the photo, I am partly visible behind the pole.

After everybody had a flight, we took a group photo in and around the gondola. Unfortunately, Bill did not make the gig, so this is not a full band photo.

More photos are available in Noel's Picassa album, here. Many, many, MANY thanks to the Captain Crystal and the rest of the hot air balloon people - they were from Morning Star Hot Air Balloon Company. Check out their website - it's very interesting.

The first runner came back at about 1 hour and 20 minutes, about 10 minutes earlier than we were expecting. We fired the band back up, and played for a couple hours. The crowd grew in numbers as the 300 runners trickled back in and their friends and family came to join them in the post-run celebration. The crowd was very receptive, and we all had a blast.