A bunch of hot air.

I would suspect most people have not flown in a a hot air balloon. I have done it twice.

The term "hot air" is very appropriate; as the fire blasts into the huge opening, if you are tall or too close to the open flame (no you don't get burnt), it's uncomfortable. That's about the worst of the situation however. As you leave the ground it's a very eerie feeling. Here you are in a basket, with about 4 other people, floating up to the sky. I went on a hot air balloon in AZ and over Lake Tahoe--- and although very different, the views were spectacular. The day we went up in AZ there was a balloon crash. One passenger, I remember, died in the accident. Luckily it was not in our group but several miles away. I don't think we knew of this before taking off---I can guarantee you we would not have gone as we were at a sales meeting.

When floating over Lake Tahoe, the pilot was very talkative. So we asked questions. "No he had never crashed" (a plus as we were concerned), "no they don't go up in bad weather," and "yes there have been some very unusual questions asked in previous flights." The most unusual you may be wondering? Someone asked who watered the trees along the lake. Our response, "you're kidding?" He was not.

I was relieved that person was not flying the balloon with a comment like that.

The photo above was actually taken from a window at a hotel in Indianapolis, IN. It was a bright morning and I saw a number of balloons take off in the distance. I wanted to get a silhouette shot so I waited for the balloon to pass in front of the sun. Snap, snap and we were done. It turned out to be a very colorful picture---one that brings about memories.

If you have the chance to go in a hot air balloon, do it! You will be amazed how the world looks when you have a complete 360 view. Oh, and bring a camera with you---I didn't and regret it to this day.

Thanks for stopping by.