We all left Mesa at about 6:00 AM, in the dark, in order to have time to drive about 40 minutes to Fountain Hills - the first ballons were due to go up at sunrise. The photo on the left was taken at 7:54, before sunrise. 
The photo at left was taken at 8:25 AM - they're getting ready - it took quite a while to get to this point. The photo on the right shows the first balloon to go up - it's now 8:28 AM. The sun has risen somewhere, but it sure is cloudy here. There are 4 couples on this trip: Joe & Irene, Rosemarie & Rainer Mechel from Ontario, Mona & Bob Naleway from Ontario & Winnipeg, and friends of theirs from Ontario.
