Today we went on a Hot Air Balloon ride...It was absolutely amazing! It is so peaceful and the view is like no other. The dogs bark below because the frequency of the gas filling into the balloon...which is frequent, depending on the the height of the balloon. Apex Balloons and their company come highly recommended by Ted and I..WOW!! Jon, Chad and Patrick have a true passion for what they do....and we got the best of their passion! Finishing our 1.5 hour balloon experience with a champagne toast at sunset....can you ask for more...I think not ;-))
SO below you will see our full experience... They first let helium balloons go to see where the balloon will float...to determine where we will depart from. Once this is determined, Apex Balloons, radioed other companies to see if they were going to leave from the same departure site. One other balloon was going to depart from the same site, which we were very excited about. The other balloon was carrying 12 passengers so they had a much bigger balloon, we lucked out with a private ride!
Once it was determined that we were leaving from this site, the trucks are parked, tarps are laid out (to protect the balloon.) The basket is laid down. The balloon it self weighs upwards of 400 lbs so once the tarp is laid down, they drive the truck onto the tarp and take the the bottom of the balloon out...then one crew member slowly drives the truck ahead while the other two pull the balloon out.
Once the balloon is out and roped down, they have a high powered fan that fills the balloon with cold air before they blast it with hot air. The balloon then fills up with the cold air and is tipped up when the hot air is blasted in...
Ok so that's enough of the process, if you want to know more come to Pheonix, call Apex Balloon company and try it out!
It is a must do!
Heated and ready to go!
This is the other balloon that set up with us and left just after us..
Looking up into the balloon, while a blast of fire releases.
The canal reflecting the sun!
The moon was coming up as we were descending with the sun
