Colin Graham and Endeavor Balloons, formerly of Troutville and  fresh from trips to China and Canada, came back to Botetourt County to fly Jumping Jack his character balloon. Graham who will fly in Botetourt  once in a while and was here to visit his parents for a few days, has officially moved his business to Colorado. He will probably be back in October to fly fall foliage trips, but otherwise he has become a western balloonist.

On Sunday morning, September 13, he reconnected with his Botetourt balloon crew and took off from the driveway of Ron and Gloria Foster in Troutville.

The 130 foot Jack is huge! That equates to a 10 story building. It took almost 40 minutes to fill the balloon and take off. Once airborne, Graham came back down in a yard on the Blacksburg Road to let a couple of passengers off, then Jack floated along the Catawba Valley for a peaceful morning jaunt. His next trip is to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival next week.