Up, Up and Away with Red Rock Balloons!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011 was to be my first hot air balloon ride. I have to admit, I was VERY reluctant to do this. But, my friend, Ellie, insisted that this be one of our activities and was quite sure that I would be just enthralled with hot air ballooning by the time we landed. Sometimes, new experiences freak me out...just a bit! But, usually, within minutes I realize that my fears were totally irrational, most of the time anyway. I awoke shortly after 5 am after a very restless sleep so that I would be ready and waiting by 6:15 for the Red Rock Balloon Folks to pick us up.

The large van was packed with people....chauffeur/pilot/owner Mark, and 3 crew members, an older couple from Vancouver and 2 sets of 20something couples from India! Really,12 people in the basket? How naive, only the pilot goes with the passengers, the rest of the 3 have to chase after us....duh...balloons only go WITH the wind not against it, I'm pretty glad they came after us and we didn't have to hike several days to get back!

After sending up a test balloon in 2 locations, we (well "they") picked the optimum site and began to unload all of the hot air ballooning paraphernalia. It would soon be apparent WHY the basket was tied to the van!

Unrolling, the balloon....

Next, large fans began to pump air into the lifeless shell to start the inflation process...

A gentle breeze courtesy of Mother Nature also helped with the process!

Ok.....so NOW I was getting EXCITED!!! Fear...gone, sense of adventure...check!

Then a loud whoosh!  The flame began to heat up the air already in the balloon speeding up the process...

 And, it began to rise.......

 This is why it was tied to the van!

Within a few minutes they issued the final "get your but in or we will leave you behind" warning....I complied. I thought it would be a struggle to climb up on in there, but the placement of the footholes were perfect and was just sort of like scrambling over a rock or climbing a tree...and then you just sort of balance yourself on the edge and voila...you're in!

Phil was sweet enough not to untie us until I had a photo....and Mark was kind enough to turn on the flame....just for effect!

 One last shot of hot air to get us up.......

Phil waving goodbye! And we were up, up and away!