Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Up and Away

Monday was a gorgeous, gorgeous day.
We spent it in doctor's offices -- and then we headed West...for a hot air balloon ride later in the day. (I know, you weren't expecting that, were you?)

We weren't exactly sure what to expect with this little adventure, but it was SO much fun.

The wind was minimal, so we didn't go very far. But the view was outstanding (that's Pilot Mountain in the picture above). It was quite different from flying via plane. It was so quiet. And slow - due to the lack of wind to propel us in one direction or another. It was just very clam, peaceful, and serene.

Capt. Jack put us to work, helping assemble the balloon and then dismantling it after we landed. I knew it must be a lot of work - and we definitely found that out, firsthand. The balloon is about 80 feet tall, and about 90,000 cubic feet when filled. The basket was smaller than I thought - it was just enough room for the three of us to stand and move in comfortably.



We flew over a school, where some kids were playing outside. They were fascinated as we got about 40 feet from the ground and waved to them. Our girls would have thought that was SO cool.

We caused quite a stir in the small town of East Bend, NC. People were pulling off the road, tracking us on the ground, and greeted us when we landed in a vacant field.


After the short ride back to home base, we were welcomed with champagne, hor'dourves, and great conversation with some pretty great people. It was a perfect end to a great experience.
Many thanks to my Aunt Candy and Uncle Wayne for orchestrating this great adventure! We absolutely loved it.

7 comments:

Christine said...

That sounds wonderful!!! What a beautiful day!

Sip said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sip said...

WOW! what a great picture of you two - and what a beautiful memory you made. cheers to that!!!

Meg said...

That is just awesome! What a great adventure! I love that picture of you two.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you two got to share that special adventure. I'm sure it was exciting and one you will talk about forever! Great pictures too!

leigh said...

Very cool. Sounds like ya'll had fun. I've always wanted to do that. I actually had a balloon land on the street in front of my house when I lived in Wake Forest. Seriously!

Unknown said...

Wow, I wasn't execting that. That is so cool!
What a gorgeous view and wonderful day!