As promised, here are some shots from the balloon ride yesterday.
We took off from the soccer fields, only a few minute’s walk from our house. It was my sister, Matt, my Mom and I. My mom was actually a substitute for my best friend who was supposed to go, but ended up being in Colorado when we finally had our flight.
They filled the balloon with a small fan that just blew in regular air. I was surprised then, that it only took a few blasts of the hot air to lift the balloon.
and we were off!
The conditions to fly have to be perfect. Obviously, there can’t be any threat of rain, but the winds have to be below 8 mph. After over a year of scheduled flights and attempts to go up, we couldn’t have asked for a better day. The colors were beautiful.
I think this might be my favorite picture. I cleared off my 1 gb disc before leaving and when I got home, my camera was almost full! Between the 3 of us that had cameras and the family members on the ground that followed us in their cars, I imagine we probably have thousands of pictures and plenty of video as well. In fact, Matt’s dad has already made a quick movie from his video footage.
Although it didn’t seem very windy, we really flew far. We finished about 15 miles away in Maple Park, which was a good distance, especially after the pilot told us how he had one flight that took off from the same location, only to land only across town in the Bridges of River Mist neighborhood, an hour later.
Everyone had a good time. The pilot and his crew were all very kind. After it was over we were christened/sworn in/inaugurated into the hot air balloon world, toasted champagne and received a certificate. Also, since the flight was actually planned for my birthday last year, I also received a little keepsake of the champagne cork and wire, turned into a mini hot air balloon.
I can now officially cross off this item on my list.
robayre
Hi, I'm Robyn and I was Hatched from a Kinder Surprise Egg. Graphic Designer by day, Maker of things by night. I have worked as a graphic artist professionally since I was 16 years old. Went on to get my Bachelors of Art from NIU. I like to share my Artwork online at flickr.com/photos/robayre and on my own personal website http://www.robayre.com. I also have an online shop http://www.robayre.etsy.com where you can find more of my "crafty" sorts of things, as well as a random piece of artwork here and there. Oh, and I'm also an occasional contributor to Artomat (artomat.org).
LOVE it. Now I want to go! The pictures are fabulous.
What great fun! I think I might be too scared though.
ps- I didn’t forget to send you those pictures. I just haven’t gotten around to it. I have something else you might be interested in too ;)
So beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing your pix. Did it feel like you were moving fast or slow? I always imagined it would feel like a slow drift down a river.
wow wow wow. also, i am very inspired. i have a list to start crossing things off of and look at you – you went out and did this big one! way to go.
Thanks for sharing the photos and your adventure! The photos are just magic, love the light in the first one!
I’m so glad that you finally got to take your hot air balloon trip and that it was everything you had hoped for. Your photos are truly amazing.
PS. I went to an Astronomy Club public viewing at Afton Prairie that same evening and all anyone could talk about was, “did you see the hot air balloon at the soccer fields this morning?” I wondered if it might have been you.
Those pics are awesome, you guys are very lucky! I also wanna go on a trip with a balloon but my boyfriend is scared of height.
A dreamy experience.. i wish i could do it sometimes.
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