A) My beautiful little daughter then, Sarah, spent the weekend with me and a friend from New England and had decided to visit and surr-prise both of us early on that Saturday morning! We had no idea whatsoever of what she was up to, not until she drove out in the country to an Albemarle County lodge outside of C-Ville. And there we saw the crew, preparing for sending alft a huge HOT-AIR BALLOON!
B) Was early...7:30am, needing to "catch" the early am currents! Best times to balloon ARE early in the morning or late afternoon. During the day, because we were beside the Blue Ridge Mts., the air current had a tendacy to move up the mountain. We didn't want to wind up across and over in the Shenandoah Valley. HOWEVER, doing so would have been another neat adventure on its own.
C) Ten (10) of us, three in my group, walked over to the small thatched box, thru the little door and were greeted by the Pilot. Before lifting off, he shared brief instructions on how the hot-air balloon system operated, making it all make sense! And then the ground crew loosened the support lines, and we were quickly off and moving up, up and away! WHAT A THRILL!!!
D) Did take a bit of getting use to the firing sounds of the pilot opening the burner above for hot air to drift up into the Envelope. I covered her ears, and she, within a few minutes of time, adapted and moved to the edge to experience the terrific adventure, as the balloon began to quickly soar straight up for height. She was OK for non-stop smiles spread across her face. And they were non-stop smiles for the rest of our hour flight!
E) We could see the lay of the foothils all around us, for miles, and up the old worn Blue Ridge mts., including barns....farmhouses...lakes...ponds. Horses and cows would see the shadows coming across from above, in their fields, and take off running, fearing something strange!
F) Once, the pilot went straight up into the clouds....then came back down to skim across the treetops, with Sarah reaching out and pulling off some leaves! She really had a smile for that one.
G) After an hour of so, the pilot searched for a good, treeless spot to land, and found one near a solitary house. As we slowly ascended, we could see, on this early Saturday morning, family inside having breakfast in the kitchen. Suddenly, the two childrend jumped up and ran out on their porch, excited to see such a HUGE hot-air balloon landing right near their home. The parents came out to join them, WITH a camera. What an ADVENTURE for them and for us.
H) By the way, "ron rascal" (college nickname) had taken my Nikon, as usual, and recorded the ADVENTURE....recently, sent Sarah pics of her at and inside the hot-air balloon!
I) ...a bit more coming....
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