I real time posted about this on Instagram, but somehow neglected to post about it here. Going on a hot air balloon ride was a bucket list item for me, but it's one that kept getting postponed for various reasons (most of them weather). When I saw that the Chesapeake Bay Balloon Festival was going to be near me, I jumped at the chance. There were issues with the venue, but it still went on! There were a number of balloons going up from various companies. I went up with Charles Blair of Blair Ballooning. Going up at the festival was great because I got to see all the other balloons in the air, but going up with Charles was amazing.

First going up in a balloon is like no other experience I've had in the air. I felt when the balloon got buoyant and was about an inch of the ground, but after that it was like floating. Every so often we'd turn and you could feel that a little, but still it was just like floating. We went all the way down at one point to brush the soybean crops and then brushed a tall oak tree on our way back up. My favorite picture is the one I got of the reflection of the balloon in the pond below.

Part of the experience of hot air ballooning is helping to blow up and take down the balloon. I let Craig do the helping so I could take pictures, but it was really cool to see the whole process. Another balloon even landed in the same yard as us so we got to see it twice!

We landed in some guys yard and then the guy who was following us with the van knocked on the door to make sure it was ok to pack up. He was totally cool with it and took pictures of the balloons in his yard.

If you're not afraid of heights, I highly recommend it.