Taking a Hot Air Balloon Ride - Boulder, CO

Rachel and I thought it would be fun to try something we've never done - go for a ride in a hot air balloon.  This past Sunday we woke up around 5:00 AM in our hotel in Denver and took a short drive out to Boulder, CO where the 'Fair Winds - Hot Air Balloon Flights' company was getting ready to launch us into the skies over Boulder, CO.  To be honest, since both Rachel and I have gone skydiving together I didn't think much about going up in a balloon a few thousand feet off the ground.

The main issue I had when we were up in the skies was the height of the basket railing that we were in - which was just below my waist.  I've always had this fear that when I get close to the edge of the roof of a building - someone may come right up and push me over.  I found myself crouching down a bit to feel more comfortable.  Rachel on the other hand was practically doing jumping jacks in the basket - she didn't seem to have any fear whatsoever.

Our ride lasted just a hair over an hour and we went about 5,400 feet up in the air at a max speed of 15 MPH.  Coming back to the Earth was pretty fun as people kept coming out of their houses, staring up at us and waving.  Dogs on the other hand were not so thrilled by our presence over their backyards and you could hear them barking during the entire flight.  We had a great pilot with a great sense of humor and he managed to drop us right into a narrow field behind a house.  As we were coming down to land, our pilot Dave was not sure what town we were above so Rachel asked a lady who was standing in her backyard looking up at us and she yelled "Louisville".  As we landed, there were several residents of Louisville that jumped right in to help us bring down the balloon.

All in all - it was a great experience and one that Rachel and I will never forget.  I posted some photos of our flight.

Comments

[Rachel]

I love your recap. I will never forget the kindness of strangers in Louisville, CO. It felt like a total community experience.