Hot Air Ballooning

Author’s note: I wrote this after my very first hot air ballooning trip on vacation in Arizona. I figured while I’m on a 4 hour drive to the Grand Canyon I might as well make good progress on my writing. As I’m writing this I’m staring out at the mountains that are so massive, the clouds touch their peeks. Also I’m watching a creature that looks like a crossbreed of a bunny and a squirrel run across the road in front of us. (We nicknamed it the bunsqui). I love traveling. You never know what you’ll see. (I plan on making an animoto of my vacation so keep checking my blog for that).

If you’ve ever been hot air ballooning, and you’re not afraid of heights, you probably found the adventure to be very enjoyable and calming. Unless you had a poor pilot, I think it would be a shame if you didn’t have a good time with it. I was fortunate enough to experience the wonderful views, perfect weather, safe landing and great people to share the fun with. My experience was probably slightly different than yours however, because I don't think you woke up as early as I did on that particularly warm Monday.

In order to get on our flight on time, we had to wake up at 4:30 am Arizona time! Luckily I hadn’t fully adapted to Mountain Time, so it still felt somewhat like 5:30 am. We took off so early that you couldn’t even use the reference; “Bright and early”, because it was still very dark when we were in the car. The car ride was a little on the long side, because Phoenix is a very large city, and it takes about an hour to pass through.

We arrived at the Skunk Creek Flats restaurant at 6:30 am, which is where our hot air ballooning group met before we took off. Once the tourist group of 9, including my parents and me, were all there, we took off in the Rainbow Ryders van to find a take-off location.

To find out where to take off when hot air ballooning, it usually helps to set a helium balloon off at different locations, and see where the wind takes it. In our case, we only had to try one spot before we found the perfect area for a set up spot. The second balloon we set up flew away in just the right spot. This was where we started setting up, and completing all tasks that were necessary in order to send us flying.

After the basket was ready, a giant stuff sack was pulled out of the chasing van and we unraveled the balloon that was inside. After pulling the balloon completely out of the van, they set up fans and turned them on full blast in order to inflate the massive balloon. Seeing the balloon inflate, and then slowly lift up, was truly a sight to see. Once we were aboard, our pilot Brooke sent a little heat up into the balloon and we set off. Not knowing what to expect, I was amazed at what I saw.

Science Expirement Gone Bad

Author’s note: I wrote this after a science experiment that went bad in so many ways. I’m really just trying to express how it felt going through that chaotic process. Also I just wanted to thank Sydney K., Quinn, Andrew and Mr. Johnson for stepping us and helping with this disaster.

If you like a story that involves bugs, chunky milk and mold, then read on. However, if you believe that these items may gross you out, that might not be the best idea.

It all started when Mr. Roehl gave us an assignment to do a science experiment. The goal was to get us to use the scientific process. This goal wasn’t very well achieved.

After the project was assigned, Tien came up to me and asked what I was going to do for the experiment. I had no clue what I was going to do and I’m glad she had an idea. She came up with the idea of planting seeds and recording the plant growth with different liquids. We decided to do our experiment with water, milk and Orange Juice.

The next week, we came in with all of our supplies, not knowing that the “fun” had just begun.

In the first couple of days we notice that something white was growing on the milk watered plant. It was mold growing in splotches over the soil. Unfortunately, the water one hadn’t grown at all in this process. In the next day or two we went to water the OJ plant, when we saw little orange and black bugs crawling over it. This is when we questioned ending our experiment.

Neither Tien nor I wanted to water the plants anymore because of the disgusting bugs crawling over the top. A couple days after the bugs appeared, a wasp flew into the OJ cup and Mr. Roehl had to set it free out the window.

The next week, (While Mr. Roehl was on vacation, of course) we went to get the milk and OJ so we could end the science experiment once and for all. Unfortunately this is when we found out that the fridge had been unplugged and that the milk spoiled and the OJ was looking a little funky.

I guess we weren’t thinking when we dumped the milk down the sink, because it clogged and made the room stink a little. This started the major chaos. First we tried running water as long as possible so we could mask the smell. Then, after the water reached the top of the sink, we sprayed perfume over it while we were taking care of the plants and the water bottles full of rotten liquids.

Once Tien and I got back from the bathroom, we realized the water had drained and that only chunky milk remained. This is where Mr. Johnson stepped in and took it out with paper towels and dumped it into a plastic bag. After throwing everything away in the outside garbage can, most everything that needed to be done had been done.

We finished up everything else including rinsing the water bottles, spraying the fridge with perfume to mask the moldy smell, and rinsing the sink. There are three major life lessons to be learned from this experience; One, NEVER unplug a fridge. It can result in major chaos. Two, if you do not listen to number one, DO NOT dump chunky milk down the sink. Lastly, three, when you are asked to do a science experiment, I would recommend doing something not involving foods and/or beverages. They can attract bugs, mold, expire and smell really bad.