Look what I did this weekend!

[RubyMutt]

My recently married aunt and uncle have been in town visiting the past week. My dad wanted to do something special for them so the four of us went on a hot air balloon ride early Friday morning. It was an amazing experience :D I thought I would share a few photos from our trip. To see the entire album go HERE (http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4286126707)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p1f0192062a4b4f2836cdee6ffc435c07/f7b71635.jpg
filling up our balloon, Skookum, with air

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/pbc0ffc710e53b20101c053ee9642143e/f7b715ee.jpg
and getting the hot air in to lift it up

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/pc10b6a9e07bf7c4bf1d549368ce858c9/f7b71590.jpg
view from about 1600 feet - the Everett (city I live in) skyline on the shores of Puget Sound

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p991bf2c4559da216670f5a4d5415669a/f7b71537.jpg
Seattle skyline on the horizon - I was amazed that we could see this!

* more photos coming *

[jenfer]

Wow! Looks amazing!!! :eek:

[RubyMutt]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/pa7d0973c01a21250ec312830a98345de/f7b7155e.jpg
Mt. Rainier

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p06ca1f2fd3ece7213e0fa1d1703e35de/f7b71499.jpg
looking up into the balloon

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p4700289642d50787d861a4b545405aeb/f7b7148c.jpg
looking across the Snohomish Valley towards the Cascade Mountains

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p72b9c65a2c48b144a6216309bde79e38/f7b71458.jpg
a random intersection

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p65f56f56fb8e04dbc41b5559b9d497a5/f7b713f5.jpg
when I was younger and on a soccer team I used to play on these fields every weekend :D

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p2c1b78dd1551d1accec2fb87f0f5d977/f7b713e4.jpg
the Pilchuck River

* still a few more photos coming *

[RubyMutt]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p16a7cd0118d0c821b6f4797b9950cf47/f7b71379.jpg
Pilchuck River (foreground) and Snohomish River (background)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/pb91521d42fcbbac1c5c85d460147da46/f7b71345.jpg
our chase vehicle waiting to pick us up

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/pd313d7121afaa502b1ecd24c5eb2c77f/f7b71317.jpg
getting out - that's my dad in the middle and our pilot, Jay, behind him

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/pe9b47ecdf882b7655a82c35b0fa079f6/f7b7115d.jpg
all packed up - took about 20 minutes to both unpack and pack the balloon up

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p48d6a4f7aa9de14d20bd4b08d34e6fd4/f7b710c7.jpg
afterwards we had a traditional champagne and/or apple cider toast with a continental breakfast. It's ballooning tradition to cut the champagne bottle open with a sword :D

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p9fe1ddcc19cfc1dc5f82e89dcb3ea6e5/f7b710a4.jpg
our continental breakfast - they had homemade apple coffee crumb cake fresh out of the oven - soooo delicious

Hope you enjoyed the photos :)

[bluekat]

Wow, such beautiful views! I've always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon.:D

[Tonya]

That is awesome. I always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride!

[MariaM]

Wow! That looks like so much fun! Great pictures!

[shais_mom]

wow that's awesome!!!

[almamee]

wow that awesome great pictures I always wanted to go on a hot air balloon.!!!

[dukedogsmom]

That looks like so much fun! What a great photo opportunity. Even though I'm scared of heights, I believe I could do this. Great pics!

[NoahsMommy]

That is sooooo neat! We used to have hotair balloon rides every weekend when I lived at home going on. I've never done it, but always wanted to.

How long was the ride? Was it cold up there? How many people fit in the basket part?

Awsome pictures! Thanks so much for sharing with us. :)

[Kater]

Looks like a blast! Thanks for sharing the pictures with us! Everett is beautiful.

[Lillycat]

what a thoughtful, special experience! i would have loved the whole time!

[HoRsELUvR]

Wow.Everything looks so pretty.

[RubyMutt]

Originally posted by NoahsMommy
How long was the ride? Was it cold up there? How many people fit in the basket part?

The ride lasted about 1 1/2 hours. No, not cold. In fact it was really hot. Too hot at times. It was a very sunny day and since you're moving with the wind you really don't feel a breeze. Plus, you have that hot air sitting only about 2 feet above your head. The basket holds 9 people including the pilot :)

[RubyMutt]

I'm glad you all liked the photos :)


Originally posted by Kater
Looks like a blast! Thanks for sharing the pictures with us! Everett is beautiful.

We were actually between 15 - 20 miles east of Everett in the Snohomish River Valley. I guess that's what amazed me the most was how far we could see. I was not expecting to be able to see Seattle which is at least 35 miles away :eek:

[ramanth]

LUCKY!!!!!

I've always wanted to go for a balloon ride. Those pictrues are so cool! I'd be paranoid about dropping my camera. LOL!

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by RubyMutt

... My dad wanted to do something special for them ...


Ohhhhh W:DW!!!!!

"Something Special" is Right!! :)

THAT was a Present they'll NEVER forget!

And *Thanks* for letting us all *Ride Along*! ;)
Your photos were FANTASTIC!

/s/ Phred .

[Kfamr]

Whoa!! That was have been an awesome experience.
My favorite picture was this one:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid130/p16a7cd0118d0c821b6f4797b9950cf47/f7b71379.jpg
I love how you can see the balloon's shadow. :)

[Uabassoon]

Wow! I've always wanted to try that! It seems like it was such a great experience :)

[anna_66]

Originally posted by ramanth
I'd be paranoid about dropping my camera. LOL!
That was my first thought when I started looking at the pictures:D

Thanks so much for sharing your pictures with us, they were great!!!!

[cloverfdx]

Awesome photos :D i would also love to go for a hot air ballon ride.

Thankyou for sharing the experience with us :D.

[pitc9]

WOW!!! Great pictures!!!!

I'd love to do that one day!!!