Welcomed With Softness

Hot Air Ballooning - Part 3
Nov. 2, 2012


"Let's go!" Ryan called out.

"That's you. Go!" Jason prodded.

"What?!" I was caught off guard.  "Oh my!  This is it!"

I sprinted towards the hot air balloon colored like the American flag. Greg Szymanski, the pilot of Free Spirit, was already in the gondola ready to take flight. Wanda, his wife and crew chief, walked over and asked me to sign a waiver.

Greg Szymanski, pilot of Free Spirit, from Boise Idaho.

Ryan, who was helping Greg, showed me the small hole on the side of the wicker basket. It's the foot hold so I could easily prop myself up and into the gondola.

"What should I hang onto?" I asked looking for rope handles.

"Anything leather," both Greg and Ryan answered.

Greg pumped a few blasts from the propane burner and then we started to float.  "This is really happening!" I got really excited.

I waved goodbye to these folks as we slowly drifted upwards.

~ ~ ~

In my previous blog posts ("Up, Up and...Um Not Yet" and "A Different High"), I wrote about my close encounters with these lovable aircrafts but have never experienced a hot air balloon ride.

Who would have known that it was going to happen on this day?

Sheldon Grauberger, a pilot of Vegas Balloon Rides, told me about the Las Vegas Balloon Fest. I came to the event because I was interested in the Glow Show -- when balloonists blast propane bursts while it's still dark in the early morn.  The hot air balloons look like they're glowing.

The hot air balloons twinkle in the twilight
during the Las Vegas Balloon Fest's Glow Show.

They're like giant colorful lightbulbs flashing on and off. It's a visual delight!

Didn't expect to ride a hot air balloon at all. I was even wearing heels! I was just taking pictures and chatting with Jason Abbott (marketing director of Vegas Balloon Rides) when Ryan, also from Vegas Balloon Rides, surprised me with the opportunity.

I was so thankful...and happy!

~ ~ ~

When the basket first lifted off the ground, I was thrilled! "This is going to be so cool!" I thought. But as we drifted above street lamps and trees, it finally hit me that we're going really high up.  I must admit I was white-knuckled for a while.  I wanted to take pictures or tweet about what was happening but I was afraid to let go of my grip.

"Did I forget to tell you that I'm afraid of heights?" I asked Greg.

"So am I," he replied in a grandpa kind of way.

I took this picture as we rose higher and higher.
The hot air balloon ride was as peaceful as this sunrise.

Ours was only one of the multiple balloons that launched
 for the mass ascension during the Las Vegas Balloon Fest.

Soon enough I relaxed. I didn't even feel that the wind was carrying us towards the east. We slowly rose higher until I could see a great view of the valley. Around us were the other balloons in flight.  It was incredible!

The experience was exactly how Jason (Vegas Balloon Rides pilot) described it to me, "You feel completely detached from the ground and you get this motionless sensation. It's like canoeing in the sky."

View of the Las Vegas Strip from one side.

View of the Red Rock Mountains on the other side.

"It's like canoeing in the sky."

I asked Greg about the gadget hanging from his neck. He explained that the instrument helps measure altitude, rate of climb, and the balloon top's temperature. Then he started whipping out facts and figures about hot air balloons. I was bummed I didn't have my notepad to jot them all down.  He even said that our balloon could fit 90,000 cubic feet of air. "That's 90,000 basketballs," he put it in perspective. I looked up in awe.

"And who is this fella," I then tapped the stuffed animal hanging on one of the support poles. 

"That's my hitchhiker," he laughed and pressed a button on it. The song "Wild Thing" started to play and we both cracked up.

The hitchhiker on Greg's Free Spirit Hot Air Balloon

"It's a beautiful day," Greg emphasized. The weather was perfect and there was no cloud in the sky.  I told him that I got my wish.  And how elated I was to get a private ride. It was worth the wait.

Later he scouted the area where we could safely land.  He pointed to a truck on the ground, "There's our chase crew following us." I wasn't really sure how or where we could touch down. We were gliding above homes.  I saw some great backyards and swimming pools, by the way.  Then he pinpointed an elementary school playground.  That became our landing pad.

"We're going to bounce," Greg warned me. "Bend your knees."

The basket gently hit the ground and bounced back up. We hit the ground another time and then slightly skidded to a halt. Some teachers and kids came out to see the balloon up close.  They all took pictures while I was still in disbelief.  Ryan and Wanda soon arrived and we all helped put the balloon away and back into their trailer.  It was a lot of work but they got it down to a system.

"So how was it?" Ryan asked me.

"IT.  WAS.  AH-MAZING!" I exclaimed.

Smiling for the camera after a great landing. That's Greg and me.

Ryan and Greg using a squeezer to force the air
out of the envelope a.k.a. hot air balloon

I was so grateful for the incredible ride of my life. Oh but wait...there's more!

Greg and Wanda weren't just going to let me go without the full experience. They signed and handed me my certificate. "You are now officially an aeronaut," Greg declared. He gave me a little hot air balloon pin that looked just like what we rode. It was inscribed with "Free Spirit Balloon Team."

Next, he pulled out 3 flute glasses and poured champagne into them. We all raised our glasses for a toast and what he recited almost made me cry...

The Balloonist's Prayer:

"The Winds have welcomed you with softness.  

The Sun has blessed you with his warm hands. 

You have flown so high and so well, that God has joined you in your laughter. 

And He has set you gently back again into the loving arms of Mother Earth."

"Cheers!"

Free Spirit Balloon Team

Greg writes my name on the Certificate of Aeronaut

Ste Chapelle champagne for toasting

A Different High

Hot Air Ballooning - Part 2
October 2012

Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride in Vegas

"We're going to have 3 hot air balloons go up tomorrow morning," Jason Abbott, the Marketing Director of Vegas Balloon Rides, told me on the phone. "If you're interested in taking pictures of the crew in action, tomorrow would be a good time to do it." 

"I'll be there!" I assured him, "Thank you!" I couldn't sleep just thinking about it. This video tells the story of what I witnessed. 

Watching all of this unfold makes me even more eager to experience a hot air balloon ride! And yes, even if I am deathly afraid of heights. Maybe soon I'll be telling the story of how I "walked with the wind." Stay tuned!

See Part 1 of my story here.

Up, Up, And...Um, Not Yet

Hot Air Balloon Rides - Part 1
October 2012

It was still pitch black outside.  Meeting time was at 6:00 a.m. but I was early.  So I waited patiently inside Starbucks with my tall latte. Soon, Jason Abbott walked in and he immediately spotted me.  "Bring it here!" he said and gave me a bear hug. "I feel like I've known you forever!"

For weeks, we've been exchanging texts and e-mails to schedule this meeting.  I was thrilled to chat with him, the pilots, and the crew. I was excited to watch a hot air balloon take flight.  This is going to be awesome!

The Vegas Balloon Rides van and trailer

Jason, the Director of Marketing for Vegas Balloon Rides, walked me to the parking lot where the van and trailer were parked. I met one of the pilots, Sheldon, who approached us showing current and forecasted wind conditions on his iPad.  He and the crew members were unsure of how the wind was going to behave that morning.

As the sun peeked in the horizon, a crew member released a regular birthday balloon.  Everyone watched the balloon toss and tumble upwards and then dart into the west.

A regular balloon is released to gauge wind speed and conditions.

Pilot Sheldon (center) with crew members Ryan and Randy (to his right)
closely watch the balloon's flight pattern.

The balloon's movement showed irregular wind motion.  "We'll have to wait it out a little bit," Sheldon declared and the other pilots agreed. They explained that it's important to have the right wind conditions for a safe hot air balloon flight...and landing. That's why they call it "Walking With The Wind."

From left: Pilot Jason, Marketing Director Jason Abbott,
and Pilot Sheldon of Vegas Balloon Rides

I was then introduced to another pilot, also named Jason. "Man, that's a great movie!" he pointed at Jason Abbott's shirt which was printed with "The Dude Abides" and Jeff Bridges' face. "The Big Lebowski!" he cried.  Jason, the pilot, has 20 years of experience hot air ballooning...and in many different places.  When asked about his most memorable flights, he mentioned flying with celebrities Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz. Or even with the late Libyan leader Khaddafy and his armed bodyguards in Africa.

He also recounted, "There was this guy who surprised his girlfriend with a balloon ride.  At first, she was so freaked out that she didn't want to go.  I had to talk her into it.  She ended up having a great time while her boyfriend was 'paralyzed' and almost didn't get to propose to her."  He laughed and remembered another former passenger, "Another guy who was going to propose tied the engagement ring with fishing lines."

Later, crew members Randy and Ryan joined our mini huddle.  "The Big Lebowski," Ryan recognized  what was on Jason Abbott's shirt.  "That's a good movie!" he said while getting ready to release another balloon. Across the parking lot, a flag was visibly waving in the wind.  He explained, "Ideally, that flag should be limp on the flagpole indicating winds are calm and suitable for a flight."

Jason Abbott pointed out that in Las Vegas, they are able to fly about 300 times out of the 365 days in a year. Thanks to favorable weather conditions almost year round in Sin City. In contrast, chances of cancellations in other cities could be as high as 50%. Vegas is a great place to go hot air ballooning.

An hour had passed and the wind speed hadn't slowed down. Sheldon knew he had to call it off.  With a heavy heart, he faced the would-be passengers and said, "In hot air ballooning, there's a saying that goes...'I'd rather be on the ground saying I wish I was up there' than being up there and saying 'I wish I was down on the ground.'  I'm sorry folks, but we won't be able to go up on the balloon today.  We'll try again tomorrow."

Not one passenger whined. Nope. No one complained. They all understood that this was for their own safety.  The guys from Vegas Balloon Rides are very experienced and highly knowledgeable in this business. And they are genuinely wonderful people! I enjoyed meeting them and watching them in action. I was reassured that I would be in good hands if I chose to experience my first hot air balloon ride with these guys. I can't wait!

The Crew of Vegas Balloon Rides
L-R: Randy, Ryan, Jason (pilot), Doug, Marketing Director Jason Abbott, Dan,
and kneeling, Sheldon (pilot)