When Mr. Man was given the gift of a balloon ride by his co-workers for his 50th birthday I was immediately transported back in time to my eleven-year-old bedroom. I could see myself lying in bed, pillow fluffed behind my head and reading Jules Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days.” Captivated by Phileas Fogg’s flight in a hot air balloon with his valet Passpartout, the dream of one day circumnavigating the earth with my manservant took root.
Almost forty-five years later my fantasy materialized – maybe not the traveling completely around the world part, but certainly living the rest of the dream…
Expecting to arrive and immediately take off into the wild blue yonder, we, including two other couples, were duly informed that we needed to pitch in with blowing up the thing. Hmmmmm…
Thankfully, they had a machine for that
Hey! What happened to all the rainbow colored ones?
I guess black and white is what you get when a newspaper uses you to advertise.
ALL ABOARD…
HIT THE GAS
AND WE HAVE LIFT OFF
up, Up, UP and away…
HOLY SCHLAMOLY!
We are standing in a basket
– A WICKER BASKET –
TWO MILES above the ground
The silence, as well as the stunning beauty, is overwhelming
Eighty minutes passes quickly and it is time to begin the descent
“Ach, du lieber Hilde! Vot is dat?”
“Mooooove over Bertha – I can’t see!”
“Hey, you guys – I sink dat is bahhloon!”
Once we are well past giving the local livestock a scare,
it’s touch down, deflate, and time to pack up that monstrous, bulbous orb
into
a
little,
nylon
shopping bag
Thank you to everyone for an unforgettable gift
and
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. MAN
Thanks for making my dream come true too.
Donna Gwinnell Lambo-Weidner 
How cool! Beautiful photos and great memories :-).
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It was…thanks Red!
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I heard people talk about the silence up in the air. Amazing flight, great pictures!
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Thank you Mina. Yeah, the silence is indescribable.
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Silence except when the burner roars. One time I was flying very low across a field — maybe 20 feet off the ground, and I heard these strange noises — hiss or buzz. My pilot mind thought “propane leak?” and then I realized it was the crickets!!!
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Amazeballs!
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so neat that you got that balloon ride. Back when I was a pilot giving commercial balloon rides I insisted that people speak of “inflating” the balloon, rather than “blowing it up”
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True, true Jane. Blowing it up would not have been as much fun. Caplooie! Oh, perish the thought! And I thought this might get your ballooning memories afloat. You always amaze me with your experience.
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Great job of putting 80 minutes into 80 seconds……this looks exhilarating!
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And it was…I can only recommend it.
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Ugh. Don’t think I could pull that one off…even standing on second step of a stepladder makes me dizzy!
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You might surprise yourself…just take baby steps.
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Oh, that is something I have always wanted to do! How wonderful for you and Mr Man. LOL just imagine if you actually did have to blow it up…the usual way…”Well honey, that was a great way to celebrate your 90th birthday.” 😀
Great memories Donna and great photos!
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Thank you Lyn. Sometimes I think though that at times we’re both full of hot air. Ah, the possibilities…
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Whoa! Just looking out that little “window” made me nervous! I’m glad you guys enjoyed it (and I’m not surprised either) but that’s not for me – even baby steps…it would have to be like ant steps.
Oh yeah, I agree, it would have been a lot cooler with a colorful balloon. Hey…why don’t you use your new photoshop abilities to fix that?
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Ha haaaa, I never thought of that. Thanks for the idea, Vic!
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I used to ask any nervous passenger to remember to breathe and to remember to keep their knees relaxed — it worked for most of them
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Yup, breathing is good for any fearful situation, isn’t it?
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Awesome Donna! On my bucket list!
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I can’t recommend it enough…and it’s just down the road a piece from Munich!
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Are you here??
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No, we did this before we moved…the end of 2011.
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