Perfect, Crisp Autumn Day

Seeing hot air balloons has always inspired a feeling of awe and joy in me. When my friend Mallori talked about wanting to go on a hot air balloon ride I expressed my excitement and she found a deal to make it happen!

Finding time to go was more complicated, and it turns out we finally found time on one of the last weekends they were going to take people up in October.

We rented a car and drove 75 miles north of NYC. We finally found the grass alley between two homes and found this beautiful, and not at all what I expected, “air strip”

Upon seeing the balloon spread out on the grass I literally couldn’t contain my excitement (note the raised shoulders and balled fists!)

As the balloon started to fill with air, we realized it could take awhile, so we entertained ourselves taking pictures as the balloon slowly grew:

Finally we got our first peek inside the fabric that would hold our fate in its hands:

Our hot air balloon pilot enlisted help from some of our fellow riders. As they held onto the sides, he ran inside – say what!?!

And then came the real eye opener – playing with fire :)

When the moment came for all 10 of us to squeeze into what suddenly seemed like a rickety wicker basket I realized I was terrified. And I realized that my level of fear exceeded the level of fear I felt when jumping out of an airplane with another person and a parachute strapped to me. My initial visions were of the bottom dropping out of the basket and my clenched fists went from ones of joy to my lifeline clinging to anything in front of me.

Luckily, I got over my initial trepidation, and my second vision was incredible!!

Perspective was one of the coolest parts of this adventure. Moving along slower and less directly than a plane with a wider vantage gave a lot of different perspectives:

Perspective down

Perspective up

Perspective wide

Perspective of trees

Perspective of towns and roads and reservoirs relating to each other

And one of my favorites – Perspective of Manhattan 75 miles away
One World Trade Center (still under construction at the time) visible on the horizon

Then there were just some incredible views:

Our pilot told us that we were very lucky and got a longer ride than most, for which I was truly grateful. As the sun started to set I wondered where exactly we would land. 

There was nothing but trees below us at this point. Suddenly, there was a clearing. Or rather someone's front lawn...

Yep, we landed on their grass. Luckily they thought it was a grand adventure rather than an inconvenience. They waved and smiled as we descended:

And they took a group photo for us!

Somehow I was the last one to get out of the basket, and I was wondering if the basket would tip over before I could get out (it didn't!)

These pictures captures how dark it was not too long after we landed - and also that we would have been fine, at least fuel wise, if we hadn't come across the accommodating lawn.

On our drive back to where we started, the pilot told us horror stories about hot air balloon crash landings and getting stranded in the air at night. It was funny, but also sobering since we easily could have turned into one of the next stories he told groups on the drive back.

A few more photos - I can't get over the beauty of this adventure!!