Thank you to all of you who contributed to my ballooning gift certificate for my retirement! I finally took the flight with the Airial Balloon Company in Snohomish. It was wonderful! It has been 5 years since I have flown in a balloon. I waited until now for the ride because I knew I would have a better chance for good weather (although after 2 months of sunshine, Thursday was kind of iffy). I decided to take my son, Jess, along–he’d never had a balloon ride. Although he’s been part of our family for many years, he was not interested in getting up early when I had my balloon, and has lived in California most of the time. I was also able to take my 10-year old granddaughter, Sarah, along. She had been in my balloon when she was 18 months old, but she didn’t remember it, so this was like a first ride for her, too. My daughter, Leslie, went along to watch.
This was the first time I had flown in the Snohomish area. Although we were concerned that the weather might not hold, it turned out to be beautiful and the winds were calm. Good thing, because the weather on our backup date this Saturday promised to be worse. When I woke up this morning, it had rained, so we just caught the end of the good weather window. In the future, I will crew for balloons again, but for now it was nice to go as a passenger with no responsibility for planning the flight, organizing the equipment and crew and flying the balloon. I could enjoy the ride and take pictures. In addition to a very pleasant flight, our pilot was an old ballooning acquaintance, Tom Hamilton. I know that he is a very experienced, excellent pilot so I was comfortable entrusting him with Jess’ and Sarah’s safety. Another old acquaintance, Jay Woodward, was piloting another balloon from the Balloon Depot.
Jess, Sarah and Leslie
Jess helping with inflation
Jess helping with inflation
Leslie (right) helping with the inflation
Yours truly helping with the inflation
We will have a distinct advantage at the pumpkin maze this year!
Companion balloons
Companion balloons
Ahhh! The sound of the burner and the scent of propane!
View from the balloon
View from the balloon
View from the balloon
Deflation
Aerial Balloon Company has a nice gazebo for the after-flight celebration
Great photos, thanks for sharing.
I loved the pictures of your balloon experience. I could almost smell the propane and feel the wind and the balloon. Ballooning experiences are so much in my memory as a big part of my life. Thank you Rich for the pictures and the memories. Love, Mom