Hot Air Balloon

It has become a family joke that we would never actually get a hot air balloon ride.  We bought a Groupon for a ride in December of 2012.  It required we get a ride scheduled before April 2013.  We did that...then it didn't happen because of weather.  Repeat that about 5 times over 2 years.  It turns out they won't fly balloons if the heat index is above 95 degrees.  Or if the wind is over 9 mph.  Or if the ground is too wet.  Or if there are storms within 100 miles.  When we finally got to fly this month the balloon lady said it was only their fifth flight this year!  The other couple who flew with us also purchased their flight back in 2012.  So if you want to fly in a hot air balloon, I suggest planning it years in advance. :)

We were a little freaked out by the small size of the basket.  Five adults fit in this.

We got to help blow up the balloon.

looking up

We started in a subdivision around 199th & Mission and flew to the Blue Valley West High School at 159th & Antioch.  Three other balloons flew at the same time as us, so it was really cool to watch them inflate and take off while we were in the air.

I'm not really scared of heights, but it was still a little scary to think about the little basket that was holding us up.  Steve IS scared of heights and held tight to the ropes the whole time. :)

The black dot is our shadow.

If you look closely you can see downtown.

Lots of people waved and yelled to us from their backyard.  The white dots are kids.  We also got to throw bean bag flags out for the ground crew to pick up.

We also went up and down just for fun.  We got so close to these trees that we could feel the top branches brush against the bottom of the basket.