It’s not often that you add something to your bucket list, and cross it off two weeks later. But that’s just what my Mom and I did last night when we went on a hot air balloon ride!!!!!!
After seeing those hot air balloons a couple weeks ago, and again last weekend, I knew I had to find a way to ride one. I nervously called the company giving rides at the Indianola Balloon Classic this week and, lucky us, they had two openings for an evening ride last night!!
My Mom – who I get my adventurous streak from – was just the person to take the epic journey with. :)
Where my husband Ben is afraid of heights – my Dad gets nauseous on anything that moves. We’re talking can’t even ride escalators…
He makes an excellent photographer and cheerleader though!
There were 3 passenger balloons, with 10 people to a basket. Out pilot, Andy, was the ringleader of the flights and we were SUPER confident in him.
While we listened to him giving instructions on how to get in, get out, etc., our balloon was rolled out.
It was cool to be on the other side of the action!
Once it was all spread out, the diesel-fueled fans fired up and our balloon filled with air!
Whee!
Nerves might have been kicking in at this point… ;)
As soon as the balloon was inflated,
Andy hopped in the basket, opened up the propane tank,
and let ‘er rip! Fire in the hole!
Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to my Dad, hop in the basket and take flight!
Away,
we,
go – wheeeee!!!!
We were up in the air just like that. On the ground one minute and 500 feet in the air the next!!
Bye Dad! (I’m sure he was having a panic attack at this point…) ;)
It’s incredible how fast you rise in a hot air balloon.
Right away you know you are in for some once-in-a-lifetime views.
Our pilot fired up the tanks (omg SO HOT!!!!!)
and we continued to climb.
Breathtaking.
omg, anytime we flew over dogs or cows, they would start barking/moo’ing. It was hysterical.
After awhile we descended over a flooded corn field and saw our reflection in the water.
Hello!
Um, then we kept descending – right over the top of the cornfields!!!!!!
IGE: Detassler for hire. :)
Our pilot told us that in the Fall, they’ll fly over pumpkin fields, have someone hop out, grab a pumpkin and then drop it from 5000 feet up. HA!
Up we went again!
Normally, if the conditions are right, our pilot goes to 5000 feet – 1 mile.
Apparently the conditions were perfect last night, so we said goodbye to 5000 feet,
and hello to…
6000 feet! Over 1 mile high!!
OMG! 8O
Even our pilot was impressed!!
We stayed in the air for about an hour and it was the most quiet, peaceful, blissful experience on earth. Perfectly still, perfectly cool, perfectly calm.
Finally the sun began to set, and we made our final descent – landing in the hay field of a local farmer – HA! He was watching the balloons with his little girls and we shouted from the air – “can we land in your field??” “Sure!” he called. Apparently this is how all balloon landings go. ;)
Safely on the ground!!!!
Take down took 5 minutes.
One minute it’s up,
the next, it’s down!
We said goodbye to the farm and shuttled back to our launch site.
Where we toasted to our very first balloon ride with certificates and champagne!
Wow. Wow is really all I can say. If riding in a hot air balloon isn’t on your must-do list – add it. It’s so crazy to know that in a world full of state of the art technology and what not, that you can see the earth from a mile in the air, simply with fire, cloth and a basket. Absolutely incredible. This experience was once in a lifetime and I’m so glad I got to experience it with my family! (Ben had to work late, but was there in spirit!!)
Still flying high, but it’s back to the real world. To the eye doctor I go!
Have a wonderful Thursday!!
~~~~~
Would you consider yourself adventurous? What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
I’m not a particularly adventurous person. I like to travel the world, but when it comes to crazy adventures, I’m fairly reserved. I blame it on my inability to break rules – a habit formed when I was little because I so hated getting into trouble. Not to say that I don’t have fun – I most certainly do, I’ve just never done anything particularly crazy.
That looks so fun! I would love to do something like that.
What fun! I especially love the reflection picture. Great photography!!
WOW looks like so much fun!! Great photos!
oh my gosh, i’m all nervous just reading this! Seriously, I think my blood pressure just went up!
I literally laughed out loud at :
“Bye Dad! (I’m sure he was having a panic attack at this point…) ;) ”
Looks so beautiful, but somehow I think I would freak. Not a fan of heights or confined spaces, and while that basket looks WAY bigger than I thought it would be, there are ALOT of people on there!
I guess I’m not really an adventurous person. Probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done is jump off a waterfall on my honeymoon. It was fun, but I was still scared that I was going to slip and bash my head open on the rocks. I did it a few times though, totally worth it!
I really should try more adventurous things! ;)
Wow! Those are some amazing views! Need to add that to my list. I definitely consider myself adventurous. So far the craziest thing I’ve done was tandem skydiving 7 yrs ago for my sister’s 30th birthday. Most amazing thing ever! The thrill of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, free falling, and pulling the cord was unbelievable. Of course, there were a couple spoken words of ‘shock’ while standing at the airplane door, but nevertheless it was amazing.
Pictures never do justice to the actual views. So, if you’re pictures aren’t even as good as what you actually saw, then I’m sure it was one of the most amazing experiences of a lifetime! Plus, it is so cool that you added that to your bucket list just two weeks ago! (Mental note: add win $1 million to bucket list).
P.S. I’m proud that I know what detassling is!
BEAUTIFUL photography! Thank you for sharing!
I gotta do that now… :)
What an incredible, beautiful, and exhilarating experience! I love adventures. Someday I hope to sky dive…and bungee jump….and take a hot air balloon ride!!
Neat! I keep forgetting about the balloon festival, and riding in one is on my bucket list as well. I need to mark it down on my calendar!
I suppose the craziest thing I’ve done is skydiving.
OMG! That is amazing!! I love the pics. I am adventurous, but haven’t done anything super crazy. Midnight zip lining in St. Kitts and four wheeling through a rainforest….stuff like that. Soo much fun!
I have fond memories when I was a child watching the hot air balloon festival in the Amana’s. Haven’t gotten to ride one yet, but I’d love to! Your photos are breathtaking!
Congrats!! Not only did that look amazing, it looked like you had the perfect weather for it too :-) I am also scared of heights, but I might get over that and add it on my list as well! I am not ashamed to say that I am a total chicken, but I am learning to get over things so that I can have cool experiences like yours. I did get over my claustrophobia to go into a cavern when I was in middle school, and while I had a slight panic attack when they turned all the lights off haha it was still one of the coolest things I have ever done and I was so glad I made myself do it.