Up above it all

part of my anniversary surprise had been rescheduled due to the rain. So this weekend once again we headed off to Park City. We had to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to be there by 6:30. I don't know about you but I'm accustomed to sleeping in until about 9 on the weekends, so I was a little groggy at first. As we pulled off the exit to Park City I saw a van pulling a hot air ballon basket and thought "how neat!" We stopped for a quick bite to eat and headed farther into the depths of Park City. We pulled into a hotel parking lot and there was the Hot air balloon van! That was my surprise ;) I have always wanted to go in one! I was so excited :) they said it was pretty windy over the mountains in park city so we headed out to Heber where there was more open space. We pulled into this little airport and everyone started piling out. There were about six vans full of people, all the crews got out and started assembling the balloons. They were all so close to each other I wondered if that was going to cause issues but none of the crew seemed to care. They all tipped their baskets on their sides and pulled the balloons out and unrolled them like giant sleeping bags. They had these huge fans to open the balloons up, Brandon and another gentleman helped hold it open while the crew assembled the top of the balloon.( I don't know all the balloon piece names so pardon me) when it was mostly open they tipped the basket right side up and the pilot hopped in. He asked us to hold on so he didn't fly away. All the passengers climbed into the basket and up up and away we went! It happened so quickly it was frightening! Our balloon was the first up in the air, it was so amazing yet so scary! We were climbing higher and there is no way to steer it; there was nothing to strap you in or keep you from falling out!! Then as all the other balloons began to ascend the pilot mentioned letting him know if one of them comes up underneath us! I was like freak! We're going to die! But we soared safely through the sky over the valley and my nerves were calmed. Until it was time to land! The pilot said he was going to shoot for this open field and we got closer and closer to the ground. He told us to brace ourselves and fearing the worst I white knuckled what I could hold onto. We landed without a bump, everyone climbed out as they sprayed cold must into the balloon, it deflated and we had a cheers with champagne and orange juice :) it was a wonderful experience and a sweet surprise! Thanks babe!






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