Hot Air Ballooning!

What a wonderful treat to get to float over our beautiful green Northwest (thank you, friend Caroline). 

 

It did take a wee bit of effort to get up at 4 AM(!) to meet the balloon van but this early we got to enjoy the sunshine coming up over the Cascade Mountains.  Terrific!

Dean helped with the balloon inflation - 20 minutes from trailer to fully inflated. 

 

 

Nice quiet ride except when the air in the balloon cooled and we needed to ascend.

Phoosh as the gas turned on and up we went. We heard the dogs barking at us and saw a horse shy when the pilot turned on the gas.  

Thought about dropping pennies along the way but Dean never calculated the velocity and I didn't want to harm anybody below!

The haze and the clouds kept the mountains from being clear shots.
 

Wonderful views of McMansions and their pools and tennis courts AND pickleball courts.

We traveled up to 2000' high and managed 15 mph. 

As an aficionado of Google Earth, I realized very soon that the shots I'm taking from the balloon were similar to what you can see on Google Earth – check it out.

Colorful nursery



This maze is made of sunflowers - nice!

The pilot stated that hot air balloons typically last about 500 hours for him to use commercially and amateurs may use them up to 650 hours but seams and lines may be causing problems after that time.  

 

Toward the end of the ride the pilot was really earning his money making sure the recovery crew got to where we were landing before we did (and they did). And making sure the surface winds weren't going to move him toward the trees.

We landed on a massive soccer fields complex. Plenty of room.

 

And the pilot did a good job avoiding the sprinkler – we all thought we were going to get wet!

 

He put the recovery crew to work as workhorses pulling the balloon and the basket hovering just off the ground to the corner of the field out of the way of the soccer grounds crews.

 

While the recovery crew folded up the balloon, the pilot and all us riders enjoyed mimosas and toasted to this Irish Prayer.

 

The winds have welcomed you with softness
The sun has blessed you with it's warm rays
You have flown so high and so well
That God has joined you in laughter
And set you gently back again
Into the loving arms of Mother Earth

Happy fliers!

 

Fantastic!