Amazing 6 Year Anniversary

Boy did we ever luck out for our anniversary this year! Not only did we end up with a beautiful day, but we finally got to do something we'd been talking about for years! We went on a hot air balloon ride! We always get to see the balloons out our front window floating through the valley and thought about how fun it would be to go for a ride. Well luck was in our corner this year! We had unusually good weather up thru the first couple weeks of October. Normally the balloon guys close up shop and head down to AZ after September and told B as much when he inquired about going for a ride on on anniversary. They told him to try calling a few days before our anniversary to see how things were looking. We pretty much wrote off the idea of going until I spotted a balloon floating by on Thursday of that week! B got on the phone with them Friday morning, and we were confirmed for the last available spots on Saturday's ride! WOO HOO!! We already had our sitter booked for dinner Saturday evening, and lucky for us she was available earlier in the day too so that wasn't a worry.

We drove down to the meeting spot at Matthews Estate Winery - a local winery about 5 minutes from our house. We got briefed on how the ride would work, watched them do some air direction tests and then piled into the van to our take off location in the Cottage Lake area of Woodinville. It was pretty cool watching the balloon get inflated - they use two giant fans to blow in cool air and then add heat later. It wasn't long before we were in the basket and getting ready for take off!

Before the ride at our take off location

Getting the balloon ready - the Pilot is facing usFilling the balloon

See the guys standing inside the balloon as it fills?

Ready for lift off!

We gently floated up into the air and felt the occasional draft of heat from the propane blasts into the balloon. The view we had from the balloon was absolutely breathtaking. I had never seen Woodinville and the surrounding areas like this. I've seen aerial photos and flown over the area by plane, but seeing it like this was simply breathtaking. As we drifted along occasionally floating higher and then dropping down to graze the trees, I felt so peaceful and serene. I would just lean over and watch the trees and homes pass beneath us. It was fun watching people rush out to take pictures or wave to us from the ground. Sometimes we were close enough to have conversations with them! One guy even offered up his property for future landings if needed.

Taking off - that's our shadow!

Cottage Lake

Hello from 4,000 feet!Seattle in the background and our house in the mid-ground.

We ascended to 4,000 ft at our highest altitude - a little higher than normal. It wasn't even very cold since we moved with the wind instead of into it or against it. Normally, they aim for a 40-60 minute ride. But since they can only control up or down, finding a spot to land can be a little bit tricky. This proved to be the case with our ride. So once again, we lucked out and wound up with an extra long ride. :) We ended up flying for 90 minutes! I was a little bit nervous about landing as they can be a little rough. But thanks to our experience pilot and ground crew, they guided us in for a feather soft landing. I barely felt us even touch the ground!

We clambored back into the van and drove back to our original meeting spot to celebrate a successful ride with a wine tasting and the traditional balloonist's toast:

The winds have welcomed you with softness
The sun has blessed you with its warm hands
You have flown so high and so well
That God has joined you in your laughter
and set you gently back into the loving arms of mother earth.

Video of our ride

Afterward, we drove back home, changed clothes, said goodnight to Caiden and went out to dinner at El Gaucho in downtown Bellevue. We both enjoyed delicious meals and pretty much stuffed ourselves silly. We were also entertained throughout the evening by the flaming swords of meat that various customers around us were ordering. Yes - seriously! Meat on swords on fire. It was pretty cool. :)

Here is a link to the rest of the photos from the balloon ride.