Launching Big Kites!!

I've spent every day helping out in the Operations Tent with a wonderful lady named Cathy from Maryland.  There are so many events going on, it becomes confusing for most everyone.  Cathy is the one in the know!!

While sitting there one day, I mentioned I would love to buy a small kite I can anchor out, but had no idea how to set one up.  The nice kite lady standing there, covered from head to toe with hat, face mask, sweatshirt and coveralls said "meet me on the field at 8:00 and I'll show you".  Just like that!!  Kite people are amazing ... they all want to help YOU get into their passion.

So at 8:00 yesterday morning, I was on the field following Diane Sellinger to her kite anchors.  There's a lot to know.  How big a kite is, how big and strong the line should be, how long the line needs to be and how to hook up to the anchor with carbiners so it doesn't go flying off into Never Never Land.  Don't laugh ... it's happened, causing a few wrecks along the way.  I don't want to be THAT person!!

When you see other things hanging on the lines ... that's laundry.  Diane's laundry on this particular kite was a turtle.  Once it was hooked on the line, we set up the big kite, I think officially know as a flow form.  There's lots of different names and I probably got them wrong.  At any rate, as soon as the cells began to fill with air, it went straight up to the sky with the turtle following.  

On the way back we checked out these ground kites.  Although a type of bol, they are actually called crowns.  They are pretty dangerous in big winds so you don't want to place these close to people not in the know.  

The winds came up hot and heavy in the afternoon, requiring most of the big kites to come down.  They are too expensive to risk damage or loss.  By the way, what's holding them down are big truck tires buried in the sand with a short rope attached.  

Another of my favorites, the parrot fish was barely above ground in the morning.  By the afternoon, she was flying above the big guys.

Some kites have long tails like the one above, some have none at all like this stained glass version.  

A little difficult to see, this was a beauty.  It has a green undergrowth background with a wolf head and some beautiful flowers.  I rather imagine this one was hand painted.

By 2:00 we were all freezing, even with the sun out.  It's a good thing we were under cover of the tent.  Pretty soon the sand started blowing in 20 mph winds.  The Lost and Found table ended up with kite tails, one entire kite, kite bags, a credit card, one shoe and a set of rental car keys.  That last one caused a frantic race to our tent.  

With two more events to go, I called UNCLE and returned to the rig to water the puppies.  Many of the volunteers who flew here have to leave early in the morning, so I'll be manning the tent until noon when the festival is officially over.

I bet you're thankful the end has come ... no more kite pictures.  But WAIT!!  I've got at least one more day of pictures to show you.  Then we'll finally change the subject to a fabulous sunset I caught in all it's digital glory!!

WSIKF Day 5 ... I think!!

I've totally lost track of time.  When you're up at 5:00 every morning, the days seem to run together.  I've temporarily traded in my huge GPS watch for a Fitbit.  It tells me everything I want to know except what day of the week it is.

This Australian flyer in his painted coveralls, has made dozens and dozens of fabulous kites.  They are kind of free form pieced and sewn together like a quilt.

These guys were flying under the barn door.  I didn't count exactly, but there look to be about 25 or 30 kites strung together on this one.  The little guy in the middle was spinning around like a crazy kite.  Seems his lines were a tad tangled.

There's every kind of bug you can imagine, including this caterpillar whose legs made him look like the real thing.  Who comes up with these ideas??

All of these banners were homemade.  Many sport the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse from just down the road.

This one made me laugh.  PLEASE DON'T LITTER and HAZARDOUS MATERIAL signs covered the 50 gallon barrel kite.

More Aussie kites, all of these have faces on them, from Shakespeare to Einstein.  As you can tell, the sun came out all day to showcase the best of the best.

All the while, I'm answering questions about "Kite Time" (sometimes things run over because of so many participants) and did anyone find my keys, my gloves, my phone, my eyeglass case (that had toothpaste ?? and $57 dollars inside) and lastly, MY DOG!  One little girl got lost, but Mom finally found her crying in the middle of the competition field.

There are lots of buggy critters, tadpoles, octopus ... if you can imagine it, you can fly it!!

This drum kite made my eyes hurt!!

Several looked like bumblebees dancing in the wind.  It's just amazing the number of shapes and sizes.

And some looked like stained glass.

This picture of another bug was taken by Diane Morris.  I love these guys!!

Lunch was Hawaiian BBQ again.  Why mess with a good thing.  In case you want to try this, the chicken is marinated in a teriyaki pineapple juice combination with pineapple chunks added to the mix.  The onions were cooked separately and added on top along with fresh tomato.

At the end of the day, I was tired again, having walked an average of five miles every day.  I can feel it in every muscle, but with the wind in the excellent to OH YEAH range, I took the Shook out for a spin.

I almost got wet.  Trying to get pictures with one hand, I wasn't paying enough attention.  Behind me the very high tide was coming in fast.  I got it back up in the air and moved over just in time!!

This morning I have a date to learn how to set up the big kites.  I don't want a BIG one, just something small that I can anchor to the ground and let fly.  Of course that means I have to be on the field extra early.  I hear my couch calling my name already!!

Look!!! Up In The Sky!!!

And on the ground!!  Kites galore at the Kite Festival in Long Beach Washington.  It's one of the best.  If you haven't seen this, you should head this direction next year.  Many of the kite festival volunteers actually come from the East Coast and some even fly all the way from Spain and France, just to fly kites at this beach.

Here's a bol ... one taller than my rig.  Tied to an anchor, if there is enough wind, it will spin just above the ground.

I think I showed you this image yesterday, but I just LOVE the bright colors in these handmade kites.

Eventually the wind came up and the static line kites began to rise into the air.  

It's just amazing to see hundreds of these undulating in the breeze.  

It was another 5 mile day as I walked around and around the big kites, getting all the pictures I could without falling over.  It's hard to look straight up and take a picture.  My shoulders and back will tell you so!!

More jewels in the cloudy sky, the sun finally did come out in the afternoon, but I was too tired to go back out.  I actually spent much of the afternoon giving out registration bands and answering questions about lost keys, knitting needles and dogs.

The kites above are held to the ground by bags of sand like this one.  The biggest kites have to be anchored to huge bolts buried along the beach.  If there is too much wind, these will slide across the sand as the kite takes off.  I'm hoping to get a lesson in anchoring before I leave.

More beauties languishing on the breezes.  They are so graceful, I could watch them all day.

This is a small bol, perfect for you and the grandkids on the beach.  Amazing to watch when they spin.

The REV flyers were out in their groups, practicing their routines.  I've seen up to 25 kites flying together without ever getting tangled up.  That's because I was taking pictures and not flying!!

This was Island Quad, a West Coast kite flying group ... this particular gentleman from Vancouver. Many Canadian flyers come down to join in the fun.

Joanna will recognize this group, although I think there is a new guy or two.  The second the gentleman from France hit the field, he was conscripted into this group before the ink was dry on his registration.  This isn't just a hobby, it's a passion.

My all time favorite kite of the festival was this beauty.  The sun finally came out showing off the spectacular colors.  Grab a chair and a cold drink and have a seat.  There's nothing more relaxing than watching kites move with the wind.

Once I chased down the lost dog dragging his leash through the field and found his owner, I spent an hour looking for the knitting needles with no luck.  During a break in the action, I ate at the Hawaiian BBQ booth again.  Delicious noodles, chicken, pineapple, onions and tomatoes with a yummy sauce. Go early ... the line is LONG!!

Next up ... handmade kite and sport kite competitions ... but that's for tomorrow.   It's time for another big day of kite watching!!

What A Little Wind Can Do

There's nothing like looking at the sky and finding it full of beautiful kites.  Such was the case yesterday at the Washington State International Kite Festival.  This buoy marks the midpoint of the street filled with vendors.  Since there are so many dogs around, they are allowed their very own water station with buckets and bowls for their drinking enjoyment.

It didn't take long for the biscuit and gravy craze to take over.  On the third day there were several varieties available at FOUR different stands.  I had my usual.  To be truthful, it wasn't all that tasty, but something hot and full of sausage on a cold foggy morning can't be beat!!

There's more than just kite things ... they have a quilt guild here (who knew?) that is raffling off this beauty.  Yup ... I bought tickets!!  I can't tell you how many raffle tickets I've purchased over the years, winning nothing.  It's okay ... it goes to a good cause.

Hardly a sole at 9:00, but by noon you could barely walk down the beach road.

It was Red, White and Blue day, but that didn't mean you couldn't fly anything else.  Just look at these beauties!  I've no idea how they fly, but aren't they cool??

I WANT THIS ONE!!!

AKA is the American Kite Association to which I belong.  Kite flying is a world wide phenomenon.

Diane has all her ducks in a row and added a few red, white and blue flags.  

With not near as much fog and fairly good winds, the big sleds were up and running.  More pictures of these later.

At the far end of the competition fields, the Revolution Kite flyers practiced their routines.  In previous years, I could tell you who was flying by looking at the kite.  This year it appears everyone has NEW kites.  There were no "Vickies" and I think I only saw two Shooks (this for the benefit of Joanna, kite flyer extraordinaire who reads my blog ((can you believe it?))  Winds were maybe 7 mph.

Now THESE guys .... they were the most beautiful on the field.  I'm sorry I can't tell you more about them.  Although I was able to zoom in and get pictures, I couldn't make out what the announcer was saying.  I can tell you that THIS kite had the most amazing movement as it articulated with the wind.

All of today's events were about the kids.  First off, a foster grandparent fun fly.  Over 200 kites were made by three people and donated to the kids.  Every single one who wanted to fly, got to pick their own free kite and a kite flyer foster grandparent took them to the field for instructions.  

Once they got the hang of it, there were kite races for every age group.  Then came the running of the bols, kites that are usually used for line art (tied to the ground).  I didn't get any pictures because I was showing kids how to hold the handle and lifting the kite for takeoff.  The bad part was I had to run after them across the same distance, to unwrap their hand and bring the bol back to the starting line.  In order words, I ran the race across that deep sand 8 times!!  

I think this is my all time favorite flag ... the penguin.

Around 2:00 when the indoor competition began ... yes, believe it or not, they can fly kites indoors without ANY wind ... I headed for vendor row and lunch.  This is MY kind of food ... lettuce, cranberries, apples, walnuts and chicken with a delicious dressing.  I can't believe I ate the whole thing!!

Finally back at the rig, I was pretty exhausted.  The puppies snuggled up and we all fell asleep on the couch!!

Today is another full day of activities with handcrafted kite competitions.  Luckily, there's no running on the sand involved.  In other good news, with a little prompting from me having to move their bicycles so I could dump my sewer, the neighbors have moved over a tad giving me much more room.  I appreciate that!!  It's good to be a good neighbor!!