October 7th, 2011
The weather forecast for the Columbus Day Weekend is spectacular, and just in time for fall foliage flying. The weather looks good right through mid week, before we have a chance to see any more rain.
 This is Brenda and Wayne from Galway on our early morning flight.  This is John from Lake George and Jay from Nanuet, also on the morning flight
 Looking south in the valley, with the fog over the Hudson River.
 Our balloon shadow It’s going to be a great weekend to get out and enjoy some fantastic fall weather and sights.
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October 3rd, 2011
Our weather forecast for this week improves for the 2nd half of the week, into the coming Columbus Holiday Weekend. Due to the extended wet weather we’ve been experiencing, we’ve gotten over 9 inches of rain last couple of months at the airport, I will not be scheduling any flights until the end of the week to allow our flying area to dry some before we head out to fly.
So, with another wet weekend for the first weekend of October, wifey and I headed north on Sunday to check-out the fall foliage. We took 87 north to exit 29, North Hudson where Frontier Town use to be, and headed west on Boreas Rd, County Hwy 2B, through the Blue Ridge toward Newcomb.
 A view on 84 on the drive toward Newcomb. The foliage is somewhat muted this fall.  At the end of Tahawus Rd, looking toward Adams and Allen Mountain with Mt. Marcy in the clouds.  A deserted beach on Harris Lake.  The view just south of Indian Lake, of Adirondack Lake at a pull-off on Rt. 28.  We stopped for a late lunch in North Creek at Trappers Tavern.  A bowl of stew for me and a smoked chicken salad samich w/fries for wifey, and a good micro brew. All were very tasty.  A lady working on a mural in North Creek. North Creek is a small, unhurried Adirondack Mountain Village, with some interesting things to check-out. Follow the highlighted links for info on the places we visited on this drive – Tahawus, Long Lake, Indian Lake, and Trappers Tavern.
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September 30th, 2011
Last week, wifey and I took a trip up in the mountains to check out Lake Placid, the fall foliage and how the area did after the floods from Irene. We took the drive up the Northway to exit 30, then up Route 73 through Keene Valley to Lake Placid. You could see in spots where 73 was cut by the Ausable, and other brooks and streams by their flood waters. Downtown Keene musta been a river itself with 2 brooks and the Ausable meeting at the 9N and Rt 73 junction in the center of town.
 At the junction of 73 and 9N where the Ausable, Jones and Cascade brooks all come togehter. The building to the right was flooded and off it's foundation.  In Lake Placid, heading to the Brown Dog Wine Bar for lunch  A pulled chicken w/blueberry bbq sauce and slaw for me and a smoked turkey panini for Tani, topped by a local Porter on my side and a nice Malbec for wifey.  The view out on Mirror Lake from the restaurant patio where we were enjoying lunch.  The interior of the restaurant. You might also want to check-out The Mirror Lake Inn's, The Cottage on the lake for lunch.  Another noted Lake Placid establishement, worth the visit.  Since the gondola was closed for rides at Whiteface, we decided to continue up the road to Wilmington to do the drive up the Whiteface Mountain Memorial Highway.  One of the views on the way up the mountain from an overlook.  Up the mountain road.  Another overlook view a little higher up.  Hair-pin turn coming up.  The view down towards Lake Placid.  Our destination, the top of the mountain.  You can either hike or ride an elevator the last 200 feet to the top.  Some off-trail foliage turning it's fall hue.  The view back down the trail.  The weather station and overlook at the peak of Whiteface.  At the top!  On the way out, had to stop and take this pic, advertising a place I came with my fam when I was young, more than 55 years ago.
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September 29th, 2011
Here’s a link to the Saratoga Springs Lip Dub Video. It’s fun and worth the visit. The music is Train, whose drummer, Scott Underwood, is a Saratoga Springs native.
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September 29th, 2011
Well, it looks like I’m off through this weekend. But, there is light at the end of that long, dark, damp tunnel. The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting a greater chance of dry weather from the 4th of October through at least the 12th of the month, just in time for the peak fall foliage flying season.
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September 28th, 2011
The weather hasn’t been the best for flying lately, it’s been rather wet. We did manage to get a couple of flights-in.
 On Sunday evening, I flew Don (standing) from Valatie, and Paul and Carol (seated) from Springfield MA  On Monday evening, I flew Greg and Sonia from Etters PA, and John from Charlton The forecast is rather wet for the next couple of days, and the flying weather according to HPC maps, doesn’t look flyable until next week.
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September 20th, 2011
Good flying weather has been a scarce commodity as of late. The end of August and the month of September has been rather wet. But, we have managed to get some flying accomplished.
 On the 13th, Baker and I went over to Argyle Central School to do an annual balloon demo for the Elemantary school kids. We do a couple of these every fall for the schools out in our flying area, around the time of the big balloon festival at the airport in Queensbury. The area always gets worked-up in anticipation of all the balloons coming to town for this event.
 On the evening of the 16th, I flew Shari and Patrick from Union KY who were celebrating their recent marriage. I took a pass on flying on Saturday due to a lack of wind on both flights. The conditions improved on Sunday for flying.
 On the morning of the 18th, I flew Jennifer and Craig from Old Greenwich CT who were celebrating their 10th anniversary.  On the evening of the 18th, Marc and Amanda from Milford CT finally got to use their wedding gift of a balloon flight from 2009.  On Monday morning, Baker and I went over to Hartford Central School for a balloon demo for their Elementary School kids and teachers. It’s looking like Monday was the last of the good days, possibly until next week. Currently, the forecast for the rest of the week is not good. There is uncertainty on how much and when it will rain the rest of this week and into the weekend. Stay tuned, I will update the weather forecast tomorrow or later when the details become certain for our flying weather for the balance of this week.
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September 11th, 2011
While the weather forecast is looking dryer that the last couple of weeks, it appears we will get some more rain, and another near pass to the east by Hurricane Maria at the end of the week. It’s interesting to notice, that after the hurricane, we generally get decent, dry weather for a couple of days. The storm seems to literally suck all the moisture out with it as it passes bye. This coming Tuesday, Baker and I will be visiting Argyle Central School, to do a balloon demo for the elementary kiddies. Hopefully the weather will cooperate, with a window of opportunity that morning.
 Inflating the balloon for the Elementary kiddies back in '09, we got rained-out last year.
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September 5th, 2011
There hasn’t been much flying done lately due to the weather. Last week, we got hammered, not as bad as some areas fortunately, by Irene’s rain, and just plain lousy weather for the holiday weekend. The only flight of late was on Friday, when I flew Dale and her mom Dorothy to celebrate Dorothy’s 80th birthday.
 Dorothy and Dale The forecast weather for this week, is not the best for flying until maybe next Friday or the weekend. It’s very wet today for Labor Day and again mid week when we get visited by the remnants of T/S Lee and it’s rain. The area my require some drying before we can get out late in the week to fly again, and then, there is Katia that’s out in the Atlantic. Fortunately, the forecast track keeps Katia out to sea.
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August 31st, 2011
I am now available again to do flights. I have space for passengers tomorrow, Thursday morning, and next week. The weather forecast looks best for flying on Thursday morning, Friday afternoon, Saturday morning. Then maybe on Monday, probably good on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Call 518-793-6342 if you want to fly tomorrow morning or next week, I’m available. Mornings meet at 6:15 AM and afternoons at 5 PM.
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