Hot Air Balloon Ride

We spent this week in Scottsdale, AZ at the Scottsdale Villa Mirage.  The temperature here was very hot averaging 105 degrees.  We spent a lot of time by the pool.  On Tuesday we got to ride in a Hot Air Balloon.  We had to get up at 3:30AM on Tuesday.  The van picked us up at 5:00AM and drove us to the launch site.  We got to watch the process of airing up the balloon.  The basket is actually laying on it's side when they start filling the balloon.  When it is almost full they start righting the basket.  Captain Mark & Kim talked to us about what would happen as we lift off and showed us how to position ourselves when we land.  Every thing was going great until an hour in to the flight when one of the passengers was overcome by heat and passed out.  Captain Mark had to make an emergency landing in the desert.  We landed in bushes and cactus.  It was a rough landing.  We had to wait till the chase truck caught up to us to give the two ladies a ride back.  Then we went back up and the flight continued for another hour.  The highest we got was 3500 feet.  Most of the flight was between 1,500 to 2,000 feet.  The ride was pretty comfortable, so quiet and peaceful except when they fired the propane into the balloon. Then it was noisy and got really hot for a few seconds at a time.  There were two strips of Lomax to help shield us from the heat. We were served a champagne gourmet brunch at the landing spot in the Sonoran Desert and presented with our Ballooning certificates. It was quite an adventure and we feel blessed to have been able to do it.  So we can scratch it off our bucket list.  Rest of the week was spent relaxing around the pool and condo.  We are heading to Tucson on Sunday for a few days, then off to New Mexico.  Hope every one has a great week. 

Hot Air Balloon Album