Saturday, February 21, 2009

Up, Up and Away


Believe it or not, there's one last "event" from our Sedona, Arizona, trip last November that needs to be shared...before I can lay that week to rest: our hot-air balloon ride (photo album).

It was my first such balloon experience in my life and is one I will never forget. It's hard to describe the feeling of 2 hours in the air at slow speed in the quiet beauty of the desert morning with the redrocks in the distance! But I'm getting ahead of myself....

Before the sun rose, we were picked up at our vacation house and taken out to the desert spot where 5 different balloons were being set up to fly together.



Part of the fun was watching all five balloons get blown up at the same time. Ours was the last (to the left out of the picture, just getting set up).



One by one, all that hot air....and then lift-off!



Then the ride! OMG! For the next two hours we watched the sun rise over the Cathedral Rock formation, one of the 7 vortexes in the Sedona area (see this post).




We even saw the San Francisco Peaks off in the distance, north of Flagstaff (below).





The rest of the trip was just as fun watching the other 4 balloons and taking pictures of where they were, either above or below us the entire ride.













Besides all that, the actual details of flying the balloon itself were so fascinating. I was enamored with all of it, from setup to navigation to takedown.

As I said, I'll never forget it.







And at the end, a celebration! Champagne, strawberries-n-cream, and a certificate of having taken a hot-air balloon ride over the upper Senoran desert! What more could we have asked for from "our beautiful, our beautiful balloon!"



15 comments:

  1. Fantastic!
    And strawberries for dessert! What a wonderful trip.
    I've never ventured forth in a hot air balloon, but a few years ago there was a hot air balloon company in my small town, offering special occasion balloon rides. A young couple booked the balloon and the minister for an "up in the sky" wedding. That week the local paper reported "the first wedding to be consummated in a hot air balloon". The following week there was a hasty apology and the wording was changed to "the first wedding to be celebrated in a hot air balloon". I had a lot of giggles over that one!

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  2. Oh now this is my absolute dream and I am so glad that I was right that you still had a post on this subject!!! Oh I wonder how many more years it will take till I get in one...

    Your photos of this adventure are so amazing, but I am so happy to see them!

    I love the pic of the 4 greens and the other high green and yellow with the mountain in the horizon...

    What an amazing experience. :)

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  3. Very cool.
    I recall Stacey taking Jim on one of these for his 50th?

    Your pics are fun to study. I like the shadow photo.

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  4. Sham: HA! That's quite the story and how fun to be able to laugh at it. I wish for you a ride one day!

    ET: Yup! Finally I got it done, Jen, and now it's YOUR turn to do it. :)

    Don: Oh wow. What a great birthday memory for Jim. That's a cool idea. Hint, hint to Lesley/Peter for your 60th. :)

    Karen: I'll never forget it! Thanks.

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  5. The last photo is my favorite, believe it or not!

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  6. I sooo wanna do that! Your views were amazing, looks like you went on the clearest day ever! Thanks for sharing these amazing photos.

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  7. I wish I was up up and away!!
    Your basket looks a lot smaller than the one I went in.
    You had a great time I know. I would do it again tomorrow.
    Great captures one and all.:)

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  8. Ginnie, Just now got a chance to look at the "album". Love all the pictures! What a great time you had. So glad I had a chance to do it once and it was great fun. Your pics take me back again. As always thanks so much for sharing!

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  9. Ginnie I wonder, is it hot inside a hot air balloon?

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  10. Ginnie,
    this comment is very short:
    Invite me next time;))

    Did you hear me? ;)))

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  11. This must have been a thrill Ginnie and how I envy you very much. Like Tor say: Take me with next time!

    And what an excellent way to celebrate: Champagne, strawberries-n-cream!

    Wishing you a wonderful end to your week :-)

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  12. Your pictures are so beautiful. This is definitely worth waiting for. Glad you could share it.

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  13. What awesome photos! I am jealous of your ballooning....sure looks like it was fun and the photos are stunning....

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  14. wow, those photos are stunning! What kind of camera do you have?

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