I was so excited about our hot air balloon ride over Sedona, until I realized that I would be going way up in the air, held up only by a balloon, while riding in a basket. We lucked out with weather conditions because if they are less than perfect, they don't take off. Now I knew nothing about hot air balloons, so I really didn't know what to expect, but all I can say is that it wasn't at all what I expected, if that even makes any sense. Our morning started at 6:30 am . . . they picked us up at our hotel along with our other riders. There were 6 of us total, including the pilot (in that little bitty basket). Apparently conditions are best early in the morning, light winds, little traffic and FREEZING cold temperatures. We rendezvoused at a meeting spot, basically a clearing in the middle of nowhere, with the 4 other groups of balloon riders. They take up 5 balloon groups at a time. Then the team went about getting the balloons set up and inflated. They roll out these giant balloons and turn on the giant fans to begin inflating them, then the hook up the basket, and turn on the propane tanks so that the heat will inflate the balloons and stand the baskets upright. Then you have a few minutes to hop on board, the pilot positions you according to weight (you can't really move after) and liftoff. It took a while for them to get everything set up and then before you know it, you are in a basket, flying into the air. It was a little nerve wracking, to say the least. The one thing I couldn't get over was how quiet and peaceful it was in the air. Not a sound except for the propane tank occasionally shooting fire in our balloon to make us go higher. It wasn't until we were in the air that the pilot told us he could only control our altitude, not our direction. It was up to our driver to drive around and locate us after we landed. They do stay in touch with the pilot and use GPS coordinates, but the pilot said sometimes the balloons get off track and it can take up to 2 hours for the pick up driver to locate them. They only tell you that once you are up in the air.
The ride itself was very calm, peaceful, beautiful, and somewhat scary. We were up in the air for close to an hour, which is a long time to stand in one place, so Finn got a little antsy, but overall he did great. We landed, a bit bumpy, and it took some time to meet up with the other 5 groups but when we did, we toasted our trip with some champagne (OJ for the kiddos) which apparently is customary of hot air ballooning and then hit the road. Amazing experience for sure. A few days after we got home I read on the news about a hot air balloon explosion that killed 5 people--so glad I didn't know about it before we went!
Inflating the balloons with giant fans
Trying not to freeze!
They inflate 5 of them which is a pretty cool sight to see
Turning on the propane to set the balloon upright
All aboard!
Lift-off
You can barely see those two dots, halfway down, but they are some of the other hot air balloons from our group
Beautiful scenery
A little out of order--on the ground waiting for the rest of the groups
Up, up and away
Finn was terrified of the "fire" which helped us go higher. It was a little jarring until you got used to it. And you automatically ducked everything you heard it because it felt like your hair would catch fire.
Flying over the road
Our littlest passenger who could barely see over the edge of the basket--which was good because I didn't want to worry about him falling out!
On the ground, safe and sound!
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