Whether you're flying or observing, a hot air balloon festival satisfies the highest expectations. More than 20 years later, David Justice still remembers the exhilaration of his first trip in a hot air balloon. He was on a construction crew, putting up a restaurant in Gainesville, when the building owner asked if Justice wanted to go for a ride in his balloon. He hopped in.
Justice recalls, grinning.
Rush Taylor, an Oklahoma native in the process of moving to Tampa, caught the ballooning bug in his teens while working on a balloon crew for a friend's family. When the hare lands, he'll roll out a large X-shaped target the hounds have to hit with bean bags from their airborne positions. Bill Moran of Montverde won the contest last year in his Friendship balloon. Celebration Pasco, in its second year, is still working to beef up the prize fund. Hot air balloon festivals flourish this time of year, with the season stretching from April through October.