A perfectly calm day. Floating. Barely moving. Tearing a hole in a thin veil of clouds. You can reach out and actually touch the tenuous, ephemeral layer of water vapor trapped in this troposphere of sky. Weightless. You feel completely weightless. Just hanging there. A part of the fabric of the sky.
No work for you to do to stay where you are. To turn. To see all around, 360 degrees. Five thousand feet up. You feel protected in a mere wicker basket up to your chest. You climbed in. You trust the pilot. No fear.
You know, there are other modes of transportation when you don’t need to be someplace in a hurry. Like rafting down whitewater. Tubing down a stream. Canoeing and kayaking. Horseback riding. We did all this with our five kids. Several times, in fact! My husband and I took a helicopter ride into the glaciers of Alaska, just the two of us. And you can find all these posts at Camping with Five Kids. Just search the event: whitewater rafting, canoeing, horseback riding, etc.
But the end of June this year, my adult twins and I took a trip to Montana for hiking and a hot air balloon ride. My husband wasn’t interested in flying in a hot air balloon. Assuredly, it’s not for everyone.
We took the sunrise flight and flew with Kevin and Debbie Flanagan at https://2flyus.com/. The sun rose in soft hues of orange above the Rockies in Glacier National Park as we became part of the “ground crew,” helping to hold the balloon’s mouth open to fill with heated air. The balloon rippled and reached into the early morning dawn. Its colors unfurling. As the sun journeyed higher in the sky on this chilly morning, it made short work of the clouds still caught on the fields. Only the clouds filling the valley lingered.
The experience lasted about three hours, from our pick-up point in a large, commercial parking area, to our lift off location, filling the balloon, flight, landing, deflating the balloon and our celebratory party once we were on the ground again, with sparkling cider and protein bars.
We were warned not to drink a lot before our flight. No bathrooms in the basket. We were packed in, my group of three, and another two passengers, with the pilot, Kevin, making six. Kevin manipulated and directed our flight with two hot air jets firing into the balloon.
It was a cool morning. We dressed appropriately, hats, scarfs, layers. The hot jets did, in fact, help us keep warm. The pilot’s commentary explained how hot air balloons are easily affected by weather, even drizzle or small breezes. Strong wind or rain keeps a balloon on the ground.
The balloon commands the airspace. Just as the canoe or row boat does on the water. Motorized planes and helicopters need to give space to hot air balloons as the motorized vehicles can be manipulated easier than a hot air balloon.
I grant you; a hot air balloon ride can be expensive. But…
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure! We need to reach for our adventures, if we truly want them. We go through life but once. So try your adventures, your dreams. Don’t be afraid to see what it’s all about. Life is too short not to. Adventure is always worth the experience.
**Please Note:
I will not post in August. I have writing commitments to accomplish. Thank you!
So, what adventures are you planning this summer? Please share any adventures you may have hiking, rafting, or horseback riding. If you’ve been in a hot air balloon before, please share your experience. We’d LOVE to hear about it here at Camping with Five Kids. We enjoy sharing in your adventures.
Thanks for stopping by my little spot on the internet. I hope your 2025 family adventures are filled with laughter and fond memories.
Me encanta 😍
Thank you so much for your note. It means a lot. Always a pleasure “seeing” you here at Camping with Five Kids. Have a beautiful day!