We woke up early and drove to Napa. I had no idea what was happening until we pulled into the Napa General Store and saw the "Balloons Over The Valley" vans parked in front. I was SOOO excited! This is something that I've always wanted to do. We drove to a vineyard in the Napa valley and there were 3 balloons being inflated. We were assigned to the most gorgeous, colorful balloon there! We climbed in and before I knew it, we were floating high in the air.
This is our balloon. We had 16 passengers - kind of a tight squeeze, but everyone was so nice. We took pictures of each other and had fun listening to everyone's comments as we flew over gorgeous scenery and beautiful mansions.
This was our pilot Jonathan. He's from England and has 25 years of flying experience. He was a British Royal Navy helicopter pilot before he started ballooning. He has flown passengers over the Australian Alps, over the Big Game of the African Plains, the Temples of Japan, and theme parks of Central Florida. He was hilarious.
Sunrise over the Napa Valley. Beautiful!
Vineyards and wineries as far as the eye could see.
Vineyard close up.
It was the PERFECT morning for ballooning. Not cold - slight breeze. There we 11 other balloons sharing the sky with us this morning.
Tami and Kurt at about 3,000 feet.
One of the many mansions we flew over - including estates of Mario Andretti, Robin Williams, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Mondavi.
Our chase car. They drove below to see where we would land.
This was an incredible experience for me! I loved every minute of it!
This is the field where we landed.
Our chase crew coming to ensure our safe landing.
Deflating our balloon.
I was amazed at all of the effort and manpower that went into getting us off the ground and bringing us safetly down. No wonder this is such a costly adventure!
Here we are safe on the ground. Thank you Kurt for such an amazing morning. Thank you for helping me check one more thing off my "bucket list." You spoil me!
We were treated to a delicious brunch when we got back to the General Store. I would HIGHLY recommend flying with this company. They treated us like royalty.
3 comments:
SOOO much fun! I can't wait to hear all about it!
It looks like it was a beautiful day! Call me tonight or tomorrow and tell me all about it.
You guys are the greatest at coming up with creative ideas for celebrating your anniversaries! I think you should write a book on all of the different things you have done through the years! Or at least post them on your blog!
how funnnn!! looks like you guys had a good time!! another thing to cross off your bucket list huh?
Post a Comment