up, up, and away!

The hot air balloon ride was spectacular! We got up at about 4:15 am (!) and left the house a little before 5:00. When we went out to get in the car, our sprinklers were on! They are automatic and it's the first time we've seen them since they come on 2-3 times per week, at a very early time! It was nice to know they were working.

We arrived at the meeting site, hopped in a van, and drove to our take-off position. There were lots of other people, and I'd say around 15 balloons total, all in this big field. Brian got to hold our balloon open while they blew air into it with a fan. It was so cool! Then they sat the basket upright and the balloon floated upward. We climbed in and away we flew! It was awesome! We were riding with a pilot and another couple and their little girl. We left the ground around 7:00.

The ride lasted about 45 minutes during which we traveled about 20 miles. We could see Disney in the distance. We flew over lots of trees and lakes, and some houses--sometimes people would come out of the houses and wave at us. It wasn't scary at all, even though we were totally riding in a WICKER BASKET!!

We landed in a cow pasture on the back side of an orange grove. The balloons have chasers and it took awhile for ours to find us. When they finally found us and loaded up our balloon and basket, it was around 9:30 or so. Then they let us browse around the orange grove store--it was just like the apple orchards in NY except it was all orange stuff. We got to taste samples of the different types of oranges--yum!

When we finally got back to our car, it was around 11:30. We headed to Cracker Barrel, but there was a 40 minute wait and we were exhausted, so we got an order to go. We got home around 1:00, ate lunch, and had a delicious nap. It was a fabulous day, all in all! I would definitely recommend a balloon ride to anyone. It was so peaceful up there!

Today it was in the 70's--I have the A/C on! Go figure! Oh, and my friend Meg is coming from NY TOMORROW!!!! I can't wait!

If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures from our balloon trip, here is the link:
Kerri & Brian's hot air balloon adventure