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.
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.
Wow, hot air ballooning must be fun! I love how you described what the hot air balloon looked. "They set up fans and turned them on full blast in order to inflate the massive balloon."
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