Mike Hernandez, a new pilot to the Mancos Valley/Mesa Verde Country Balloon and Art Festival, is scheduled to arrive in Mancos today from Glens Falls, N.Y. Hell bring two balloons: a ladybug-shaped balloon that he will show in the night glow and a regular-shaped balloon that he will fly that weekend.
I heard about the Mancos festival from a friend of mine who was there a few years ago, Hernandez said. I was looking for an event to attend between the one in Plano, Texas, this weekend and the Balloon Fest in Albuquerque, N.M., on Oct. 1.
Hernandez contacted Wes Pittman (the balloonmeister) and set it up.
He says the ladybug balloon has a lot of appeal.
People really love her, he said.
Hernandez and his wife started ballooning in 2006, a relative newcomer to the hobby. But they grew up around hot air ballooning in the Adirondacks and were exposed to a lot of it while they were raising their kids.
I bought a balloon ride for my wife, and we were sold, Hernandez said.
It took him about eight months to get his private pilots license while he was still working for the local school district.
Then we bought the ladybug balloon, which has given us the opportunity to get to some areas that we normally wouldnt have, he said.
Hernandez went on to obtain his commercial pilots license and then started their marketing business, called Aerophile Marketing. He resigned from the school district where he worked in March and started ballooning full time.
Its been going very well, he said.
He travels all over with his balloons, but mostly in the northeast area of the United States. This will be his first time in Mancos.
The farthest West Ive been is Gallup, N.M., when I purchased our regular balloon, he said.
They bought the ladybug balloon in 2010 and have flown it several times since then.
