My wife and I spent the weekend Hot Air ballooning.
We showed up right at the crack of dawn as directed. The pilot informed us that he wasn't sure if we would be able to fly today due to the winds.
After getting our paper work all signed (you know, the forms that say if you and the balloon plummet to the ground and you die they aren't responsible), we went out and helped get the balloon ready.
Truthfully getting the balloon read was half the fun.
The balloon was beautiful. We helped hold the mouth of the balloon open and the pilot used a huge fan to blow air into the balloon to start to inflate it.
Once the balloon had started to open up the pilot turned on the burner to start heating it up.
The balloon was really filling up fast now. It was really pretty.
Once it was full we jumped in the basket and were off! I have a bit of a fear of heights but there was something about the balloon that just took any of the willies from looking down away.
We rode in the balloon for about 45 minutes. It was interesting to see how the pilot could direct where the balloon went by flying higher or lower as the wind tends to turn as you go higher.
It was so peaceful. The only sound was the occasional sound from the burners as the pilot worked the burner to keep us at the altitude he was trying to hold.
While the flight was very peaceful, the landing was not. The pilot was looking for an open spot to put the balloon down but we had drifted into an area that had some houses and a number of power lines. Eeek!!
To make things worse, I could tell by the pilots behavior he was running out of gas and therefore time to find a safe place to land. Right as my anxiety was reaching an 8, we went over a patch of trees and saw a reasonably good sized field.
We came in a bit hot but after a bump and a few skids, we were able to bring the balloon to a stop with no fatalities.
Whew! It was a fun trip and I wouldn't mind doing it again. But next time I think I will be in desert where landing spots are everywhere you look.
Hope you all had a great weekend too!