Winner Of Dubba Gs Best Balloonfest Memory Contest

Monday, I posted a cool story about the year Powerman 5000 played The Q Balloonfest and asked you guys for your Balloonfest stories.  I used free Balloonfest tickets as bait and got some really good stories.

The winning story was sent in by a Q fan named Alex and it's awesome.  Breaks rules, pisses off his ex, one-ups a weird religious cult and, ultimately, makes his daughter very, very happy!!

I love it!

Dear KLAQ and Balloon Fest,

My family and I have only missed one Balloon Fest and it was because my father was flat broke. To this day he still talks about how he missed that one Balloon Fest. Well, I now have a 11 year old daughter and I have taught her many traditions especially the sacred Balloon Fest.

My daughter's name is Katia Fernanda and her first Balloon Fest was last year in 2012. The reason was my ex-wife told her that Wet N Wild was an evil place and she would have nightmares. My ex-wife is from some off the wall religion that also tells kids Santa Clause steals kids at night. So that is what I have to deal with. So for years, I was unable to show how incredible the Fest is. Well last year, I was able to convince my ex-wife I was taking a trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico for camping. However, we ended up taking my daughter to the Balloon Fest.

I will be honest, I was a bit scared that my ex-wife would find out, but what the hell, I told my daughter you only live once lets enjoy it together.

Well, my daughter's eye's were in amazement when saw the hot air balloon's and how they functioned. The rest of the morning she kept on asking me questions about the material, the flames, and the baskets. I am sure I answered over 50 questions using Google.

After the Balloon's we raced to Wet N Wild and when she entered I can still remember her face and ADHD kick into full throttle. She dropped her bag and towel and just ran in like it was Disneyland. I had to drop the grill and run after her. I finally found her towards the back of the place with a life guard telling her to get out of the water. 

So after an hour of trying to explain to her it was not time to get in the pool, she calmed down and just stared at the rides without saying a word. Every time she saw a life guard she would ask if it was time. I am sure she asked every life guard that was walking around several times. To this day my family and I still talk about her reaction and how she even told her mom she wanted to live at Wet N Wild.

As you might conclude, I did get into trouble with my ex-wife, but to see my daughter so happy and enthusiastic was worth all the yelling and trouble. We even ended up taking my daughter again a few days after the Balloon Fest.

Hopefully this story inspires the KLAQ team to provide my daughter and I with two Balloon Fest 2013 tickets.

The End.

Alex

KLAQ Listener and Dedicated Balloon Fest Roadie

Congrat's Alex, I hope you and your daughter have a blast at Balloonfest 2013!

Balloonfest is a rockin' family tradition for many in The Borderland ... hopefully, we'll see you and your family at Wet n Wild this weekend!