Our Anniversary Continued!
As were were looking for things to do in the heat of the AZ summer an article came up that suggested a sunrise hot air balloon ride. We’ve always talked about doing one…one day…today was the day!!!
That night however, I couldn’t sleep. I was pretty nervous about our daring adventure. I’m not the best flyer and the thought of being whisked away in a tiny basket with only a balloon keeping us alive seemed all of a sudden the worst idea ever! Hahaha!
Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, we had to get up at 3:30am to get to the other side of town before sunrise. So I didn’t have to toss and turn too long before the alarm went off and I was in a state of fog and delusion anyway. My nerves didn’t really have the ability to go overboard and we were already on our way! Hahah!
So early to be on the road! 😛
The company we used was Rainbow Ryders. They are out off the 101 & 7th St.
We signed our lives away on a flimsy waiver and then they loaded us in a large van and drove out to the desert. Kinda sounds like they might be kidnapping us…Hahaha!
We stopped off the side of the road so they could release a regular old balloon you’d pick up from the grocery store to check the winds and to find where to launch from.
It gave us the perfect opportunity to capture some pictures of the GORGEOUS sunrise! I think God gave us the most beautiful gift for our Anniversary!! <3
We loaded back up in the van and after a quick trip we arrived at our launch site.
The sun is still rising and still just as stunning!
The team go the balloons inflated really fast. I though it would take much longer than it did.
Then we all climbed in and got “real” comfy with each other. Our basket had 14 people in it not including the pilot. He rides in the front with the propane tanks and has his own section. The rest of the basket is divided down the middle. There were 7 of us on each side.
Lucky us…we go to ride ride next to the pilot and RIGHT under the burners! The heat that comes off of there is NO joke!!! LOL!
We began our flight and we had no idea we had left the ground! The pilot told us and we looked and this was my face! 😛
The balloon flies so much different that I expected. It wasn’t rough or scary at all. It was so smooth and natural and easy. It was really a cool experience!
We rose and fell to different heights/elevations. The highest we got was 1 mile up! Our ears kept popping. 🙂
The flame turned on right when I took this picture. Our faces are all red! Haha!!
I’ll let the pictures tell most of the story…
That’s Lake Pleasant.
The pilot wanted to show us a cool science trick. He took a tissue wadded it up and said what you think might happen here is probably different than you think! He let it go and it rose up!! It didn’t fall! We were falling faster than the tissue! But it didn’t feel like we were falling AT ALL!
It might be hard to see. But in the middle of the pic above there is a tiny black speck in the middle. That’s the tissue! 😛
Here this might help a little. 😛
We even saw some cute jackrabbits running around. Another balloon spotted deer!
The pilot told us to brace for landing. But honestly it wasn’t more that a few little bumps. It was a smooth landing.
Deflating the balloon.
We survived!!! 😛
The ride was about an hour. From beginning to end it was about a 3 hour experience.
We toasted with a traditional pilot’s toast. Don’t worry…we stuck to just the orange juice. 😀
They drove us back to the office and they had a continental breakfast for everyone to enjoy. We grabbed a few pastries and decided to head over to our favorite anniversary breakfast spot!
They make the BEST huevos rancheros I’ve ever had! SO good!
Jared tried the breakfast enchiladas. He liked them but said they weren’t as good as the huevos rancheros! 😛
It was a perfect ending to our weekend! We will remember this one for years to come! Loved spending time with my man and remembering why we said “I do” all those years ago. Love him for eternity! <3
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