There goes the Cows..

We got up at 6 am to watch the Hot air balloons launch from the back of our hotel.
Yesterday they said 13 had launched but today only 7 launched. It's quite a process getting them ready for take off.
Because of the rain the night before and the predictions of more today many of the pilots didn't come.
Did you know the balloon reaches approximately 100 degrees Centigrade (the boiling point of water), and when the rain falls on the balloon it cools it. So the pilot has to put in extra heat from the burners to compensate for the heat loss , otherwise the balloon will descend rapidly. This can damage the balloon fabric and makes the balloon harder to control. Rain also adds to the weight of the balloon, which means more heat is required to keep it in flight.
I can see why you wouldn't want to fly in the rain.

In this picture we were parked along the road watching it land. He landed near these cows and as he was descending these cows were running for their life. I'm sure it scared them but it made for a good show for us.