View Looking Up From Our Hot Air Balloon
Like our saying, “When was the last time you got outside your bubble?” Well, we got outside our bubble, and literally under our bubble, Friday morning. David took me on a hot air balloon ride. This was a first for the both of us. Boy…was it worth it!
We chose the 6:30am flight. That, if I do say so myself, is the best time to go. Not only do you get the beautiful sunrise, but you also get calmer air, mist burning off the fields and lots of wildlife.
We were there on the field, at 6am, from the very beginning. From the unraveling of the balloon from it’s storage bag, to hooking it up to the basket that happened to be laying on it’s side and the inflation. This was really interesting to watch the teams of people making this all happen. They definitely had this down to a science. There were three balloons in all going up with passengers. Off in the distance there were another 100 balloons, with just pilots and co pilots in them, going up for the festival. When we got up in the air, we saw the other balloons chasing us in the distance.
This truly was an amazing experience. We were up for over an hour. Our pilot, Andy, was great. He had been flying balloons for over 24 years! He had such control over the balloon. Well, as much control as you could have with a hot air balloon. He took us up over 1 mile. Then he lowered us down and brushed the corn fields, taking us back up again. The deer did not think this was so great. We saw quite a few deer running through the fields not knowing what this giant thing is in the air.
The hour went by quickly. Once we were ready to head down Andy had to find a nice place to land. That’s the tricky part. Without knowing where you will end up due to the wind conditions, you have to rely on nice people not minding if you drop down in there back yard. Andy said most people don’t mind and you certainly don’t want to land in waste high fields. That would be a lot harder to get the balloon, basket and people out of there. So a nice backyard is what you aim for. And remember the team that helped put everything together in the beginning? Well, they were in our chase vehicle. Once we landed they were right there ready to put everything away. What a task. It took about 1/2 hour to put everything together in the beginning and another 1/2 hour to put everything away.
It was a beautiful morning to go up in a balloon. We enjoyed every minute. Would we do it again? Someday. For now, we can enjoy sharing our story and our pictures. Speaking of pictures, there were way to many for us to choose from. So here’s a sampling complete with a video of the landing.
Inflating The Balloons For The Morning Rides
David & Brenda Getting Ready To Go Up. Our Balloon In The Background Being Inflated.
Sun Rising Over Iowa Fields
Beautiful Iowa Fields And The Sun Rise View From The Balloon.
Mist Burning Off The Iowa Fields
Our Shadow From The Air
David Enjoying The View.
The Landing Video (Don’t let the burner blast scare you!)
What fabulous pictures! I especially like the shadow…very creative! Hmmmm…land owner coming out with hands on hips…does not look real pleased to have such a monstrous thing land in the yard! But hey…hot air balloons are the first form of flight…a piece of history…I would think it cool to have one land in my yard! Alas, my yard is small, and mostly pool, so it is not going to happen.
I am glad you had such a great experience, D&B!!!
Love and hugs….
Years ago we took the kids up in a hot air balloon. I agree that watching them set it up is really cool. We have pics of the kids walking around in it then up we went. The only bad part is that we couldn’t all go together since they limited it to three people so we had to go separately with the kids,but it was quite the experience….maybe again someday. Glad you were able to enjoy it. Hugs to you both.