50 years ago today, Mark and I became engaged......8/24/68 and so, on this milestone day, we fulfilled a bucket list (mine) item and went on a hot air balloon ride over Ithaca, NY.
It was very dark, with winds at 4 mph when we left the hotel at 5:25 AM. What a thrill starting at 6:00 when we met our crew Dar (owner and pilot) and his assistant, Brandon. Got our briefing instructions, helped hold the balloon as 2 fans blew into it to inflate and hot air (propane burners) makes it lift. Dar, Mark and I climbed into the basket and we were off for a fabulous 1 hour, 15 minute ride. Beautiful sunrise, clear skies, and so calm and peaceful as we floated over farm country, downtown Ithaca, Cornell University, Ithaca College, and beautiful Cayuga Lake.
Almost time to step in the basket
Sun peeking over the hills
Neat reflection of us over the water
Picturesque farm
Lake Cayuga
Yeah....let's hear it for the red, white and blue!
A bunch of buses
Cemetery
Robert Treman State Park - marina is where Catrina was docked on Father's Day
June 17th
We landed in a large open field 3+ miles from where we started and Brandon was there to meet us with truck and trailer. After gathering the balloon into a large bag (huge and heavy), the guys hoisted it in trailer along with the bucket and took us back to our truck in Tutelo Park where we enjoyed a glass of champagne and said a prayer of thanks!
Tying up the huge balloon (weighs 400-500 lbs.)
Ready to load up the basket
Dar has been doing this for 14 years and Brandon is a junior at Cornell in animal science and on the wrestling team. Brandon grew up on a farm in Alabama and his Dad raises Angus cattle. He and Mark had a good discussion on corn vs. grass fed beef!!!
Dar and Brandon
Celebratory champagne toast
So thankful to fulfill this "dream" with a great crew. Dar did a wonderful job of explaining everything putting us newbies at ease
After our champagne and good byes, we had breakfast at the Ithaca Bakery (yummy) and then took the back roads to Brewerton (72 miles). We stopped at Winter Harbor and Flo to put more stuff away and then I worked on Catrina and Mark stayed with Flo.
We went to Wal Mart this afternoon and then enjoyed a nice evening relaxing on Catrina (she is in major disarray, but there's always tomorrow) !
The news from Hawaii sure isn't good with Lane......I can't imagine 31" of rain on the Big Island? There are supposedly over 300,000 tourists in that state now, including Ryan. Praying for the tourists and residents and their safety. The latest is that Ryan and colleagues are flying home tonight as commercial flights are still ongoing.
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