I had the oppurtunity to go up in a hot air balloon as part of my job responsibilites for KFSM TV-5 in Fort Smith, AR.
It was for a preview of the upcoming Poteau Balloon Festival held later this month (October). We took off from just off the bypass on the western
side of Poteau. The balloon was up a lot quicker than I was expecting and soon I climbed in and we were off. We were off the ground before I
even knew it. I had to video using a KFSM camera and I immediately realized how uncomfortable it was to look through the viewfinder.
I never was close to being sick but it wasnt much fun whenever I was shooting. Soon we were high over Poteau and heading East. We went up
to around 6000 feet (over a mile up!). That was high enough that the nearby 2000 foot tall mountains nearby looked small. We landed near the Arkansas/Oklahoma state line near Sugarloaf Mtn.
Here are some pics...
