It was my birthday weekend, and I had no idea the surprise I was in for, with a day of distractions in Frenchtown and Vineyards, I had no clue of the final destination. I'm putting the clues together as we're walking around the airport, but when I turned the corner to see the air balloon truck, my emotions hit, and I was so elated. The team at ALEXANDRIA BALLOON FLIGHTS were so amazing! We arrived early, and got to know the pilots and ground crew, and within minutes, we were all family:)
We hitched out to get the balloon set up, holding the ropes while the huge fan filled the balloon (that was a workout in itself!) Janine and I popped into the balloon for a quick pic....very reminiscent of grade school days with the parachute! Once it was fired-up we jumped in the basket with our pilot, and off we went. I have to say, I was slightly nervous with thinking only only a basket would be under me..."what am I, Toto?! Where's Dorothy?!" But it was smooth sailing, and so relaxing, floating into the horizon.
We set off around 6ish, and had the most amazing view of the sun hitting the water and trees. The hidden treasures, farms, lakes, swamps you could never appreciate except from an aerial view were amazing. In our counter-balloon, there was a couple getting engaged 1500ft in the air! The guy had a small plane flying a banner around the balloon for the proposal.....and she said yes! :)
The wind that day took us by surprise, leading us into Pennsylvania, but our Kevin said it one of the best views with going over the river. Landing was a tricky one since most of the ground around us was forest, but we finally found a location (in someone's backyard) right as the sun was setting. The ground crew (which in the balloon felt very Twister the movie) chasing us in the truck, while calling our pilot for directions from above. We packed the balloon up and headed back to the airport with great conversation from such an amazing team.
