I’m sure you can’t imagine a more fun way to kick-start your Saturday morning than with a pop quiz, so here we go.
Does this title refer to:
A) Me.
B) Matt.
C) The great “Mexican Plume”, a.k.a. “The Cap”, a.k.a. the meteorological phenomenon that Texans experience when a thin layer of hot air off the high plains of Mexico settles over Texas, preventing thunderstorms from forming.
D) A special belated anniversary gift we treated ourselves to.
If you answered “A”, consider yourself unfriended.
If you answered “B”, consider yourself high-fived. Just kidding, sweetie. You’re only half-empty of hot air.
If you answered “C”, consider yourself way too brainy for my taste.
If you answered “D”, consider yourself a winner. You’ve won absolutely nothing other than the satisfaction of being right, so I hope that works for you.
A slight backstory may be in order here. Back in November, we attended a benefit gala for Village of Hope. Part of the gala was a live auction, where Matt surprised me by bidding on – and actually WINNING – a gift basket that included a bottle of wine (shiraz), a free night at the Marriott Legacy and a complimentary hot air balloon ride for two.
We anticipated needing to keep our anniversary celebration cheap, so we saved the contents of the gift basket until the appropriate time. Unfortunately, the winds kept us from doing the balloon ride when we had originally planned, so we rescheduled and enjoyed a romantic sunrise trip, soaring on the wings of love with 6 other complete strangers, including the pilot.
We arrived at our meeting point promptly at 6:45 A.M., just ahead of the chase van. We waited a bit for the rest of the passengers to arrive and piled into the van for the long drive across the street, from the parking lot to the open field where we would launch.
The pilot and driver got out and began assembling the balloon to the gondola, which I felt was a very important and necessary first step.
Once I made sure that THEY were absolutely sure that the two were securely connected, our pilot asked for volunteers to help hold the balloon while it inflated. Matt couldn’t resist an opportunity to bring Atlas out, so he stepped right up.
It started off pretty easy, with the balloon flat on the ground. Those fans blew a mighty powerful bunch of wind, though, and pretty soon it started filling up.
It was amazing just how LONG that balloon was. We were all surprised when they just kept unrolling it, and unrolling it…
And then, just like that, it was full. We had a great time standing inside the balloon and having our pictures taken. I thought it looked like some sort of psychadelic playground in there.
For the record, *I* could have been perfectly content hanging out inside the balloon with both feet (and perhaps a few other appendages) firmly planted on solid ground, but everyone else seemed to have this grand idea of going up into the air on this thing, so the pilot *had* to get the whole contraption going vertical.
Once the balloon was oriented the right way, we all climbed in – a somewhat challenging task as the basket was MOVING and CLIMBING off the ground as we went. I half expected Toto to jump out of my arms and me having to jump out after him while the Wizard climbed ever onward and upward back to Kansas. In reality, I was so busy getting situated in my little compartment and distributing water bottles to everyone else that before I realized what had happened we were airborne.
(For my McKinney peeps, that’s the field across the street from Market Street on the southeast corner of Ridge & ElDorado. The pirate ship snow-cone trailer is just outside the lower right hand corner of the picture.) Amazingly enough, I did *not* pass out. I did not freak out, cry out, break out, or try to jump out. Much to my surprise, I found it kind of pretty. And peaceful (except for all the other passengers pointing out landmarks). And – yes – even FUN.
But I held on to the railing just in case. Even while I took a picture of Matt.
Just for fun – and probably to show off a little – our pilot landed the balloon on a pond in the middle of a housing development. But while we were in the air, you could look up and see this:
Or look down and see things like the pool where your children take swimming lessons:
After about an hour, we found ourselves back on terra firma once again.
And while I was glad to have landed safely, I admit feeling just a little like this when it was all over:
