In 2008, I was invited back to fly again in Teotihuacan, Mexico at the Festival Aerostatico Teotihuacan. I enjoyed, once again, the hospitality of the Merino family, and had a chance to renew friendships with the Mexican and American balloonists in attendanace.

When I flew my cluster, Javier the younger and his sister Mariel both flew along with me in single-person Cloudhopper hot-air balloons -- a rare combination of my two favorite forms of ballooning. The flight over the City of the Gods was, once again, an awesome experience, and the combination of ballooning and the ancient city inspired the following.

Flotsam shored

By the river of years

Like flowers our toys

Blossom and rise

In the shadow of stones

That have seen a thousand springs.