#23 Ride in a Hot Air Balloon

Sunrise departure!

Several years ago my mother purchased my father a gift certificate for Christmas for the two of them to take a hot air balloon ride together. Romantic huh? It was a thoughtful gift with good intentions although in reality there is a better chance of Paris Hilton winning an Oscar than my mom ever climbing into to a big wicker basket to sail hundreds of feet above the earth. For this exact reason years went by without anyone using the gift certificate. Although on one occasion a few years ago my dad somehow convinced my mom to call and set up the ride but lucky for her and everyone involved bad weather cancelled the flight. I'm still not sure how anyone would have actually gotten her into the gondola. But I digress.

My dad Bobby K giving a hand to the crew getting our balloon full

Almost ready

This is when I get screamed at to stop taking pictures and make a run for the basket

So one night this past summer my dad and I decided while throwing down some wine that we would finally put that gift certificate to good use. We booked our flight for my 31st birthday at the end of September and kept our fingers crossed we would have nice weather. My boyfriend Jimmy also ponied up some dough purchasing a ticket to join us on our maiden voyage. We were scheduled to take flight at sunrise at the Pottstown Airport on the edge of Montgomery and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania in the Fall

My first impression after watching them fire up the propane burners to inflate what seemed like a flimsy thin nylon balloon was that this was a prime example of legit poor choices. With that said it still didn't stop me from enthusiastically climbing into the basket and preparing for take off. Once inside the basket I was shocked at how small the basket was and it felt like the four of us were packed in like sausages. I shimmied to the side making room, found my spot and held on tight and pretty much did not move until we landed safely about 45 minutes later.

We coasted along flirting with the clouds viewing the vivid autumn colors below us. Jim and my father were intrigued by the mechanics of the burner and peppered our pilot Russ Lucas with questions. In the rare few moments when we were all quiet it was amazing how powerful the silence of the sky was and then again how quickly the burners clicking on engulfed the serenity. We crept along at a slow and steady pace. Russ brought us down over a river and we cruised along it at a low altitude until we reached the next shore were we skated right above the trees. Shortly there after he set us down in a parking lot where employees from an insurance company spilled outside to photograph our landing.

Our reflection in the river

Safe landing!

The trip was pretty cool. Shorter than I had anticipated and I found it rather curious that once I was in the basket I couldn't look up. For whatever reason it gave me anxiety and made my legs feel like jello. But looking down or out into the horizon was fine. The group consensus once on the ground was that we will definitely take another hot air balloon ride but would wait and do it in a more scenic area than in our hometown of Pennsylvania. Napa or Colorado seem like legit choices. Anyway it was a perfect day to seal #23 Ride in a Hot Air Balloon into the books! Now on to the next!