A few years ago, Mom expressed the desire to go in a hot air balloon. At that point, I decided that I would make sure that happened for her. It took a while, but October was the month! Scheduling was a bit crazy, but I was off for a few days, so we planned our ride for a Thursday morning.
We see hot air balloons over two of my siblings' houses all the time, so we wanted to fly over their houses and have them go out in the yard so we could wave at them! Sounds like fun, huh? When I called to book our trip, though, I was told that, in October, the winds over their homes were a bit unpredictable and the winds over North Phoenix were better--and it was also a prettier view, so North Phoenix, it was.
We got up early and headed to the parking lot where a van would pick us up for our ride. We got there early, which is nice because I got lost--which is pretty normal for me in a new place. The directions we had were a bit interesting--OK, I will just say it --they were not right! I don’t usually get too stressed about being lost, but I was a bit stressed this day because we were on a deadline. I shouldn’t have worried. We got there before our van showed up, then waited with the other early birds while the rest of the group showed up.
We were driven to our launch site, which was pretty much out in the middle of an empty spot of desert. We got out of the van and watched the balloons get filled.
Then we got to climb in the basket and wait for the balloon to finish filling. There was time for a picture or two while we waited!
We were off!
There is a lake in the distance that was hard to see in the picture because the air was a bit hazy that day.
I was amazed at how calm it was up in the air. We traveled pretty high, but it never felt like we were moving. The only way I could tell we were moving up or down was when my ears popped. We rode for about 40 minutes, then managed to land in the same spot we started! That does not happen very often! Also, our landing was very smooth. We landed, drug for a few feet, then stopped. That also does not happen often!
All in all, this was a great adventure! I can hardly wait for another adventure with Mom!
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