Yellowstone - Day 11

July 2, 2013...Oh my gosh!  Today I checked off another bucket list activity!  Dan and I got up very early and were picked up at the hostel to get flight instructions.  You see, today we rode in a hot air balloon. I have always wanted to do this and today was the day!

We rode a short distance to a field where three balloons were laid out on the ground.   We received our safety instructions and soon large fans were blowing air into the balloons.  After they were full, heat was added and our balloon majestically rose up.  It was made from bright assorted colors and had a moose and a jackalope on it.  Surprisingly, it was made close to home in Galena, Illinois!  We climbed into the basket and I wasn't scared a bit.  I thought I might be, but I really wasn't.  The first balloon left the ground and we waited our turn.  After a couple of minutes the balloon gently left the ground and we were in the air and rising quickly.

Up, up, up we went and gently floated over the ground below.  It was very quiet when the heat was not on.  The mountains were to one side of us and ranches and fields of grass, streams, and trees everywhere else.  Once, the pilot brought us down over a small pond to kiss the water just for fun.  As we were descending an alarm on his controls beeped warning us that we were going down.  But back up we went and we were off again.

The ride lasted an hour but that was not nearly long enough for me.  I would have done this for several hours!  We did not go over a mountain as I thought we might.  Something about winds and downdrafts, and other technical stuff.  They have to keep to a specified flight pattern and we could not have flown if the breezes were not exactly right.  All too soon it was time to touch down and we had been watching the first balloon land.  We were enjoying watching the cows gather to watch this spectacle.

It seems that the landing spot is on a 3,000 acre cattle ranch.  The cattle were very curious and not afraid of the large colorful balloon and ran from all corners of the pasture to see what was going on. The ground crew had to keep shooing them away or they would have walked all over the now flattening balloon. 

All too soon we gently touched down and the cows gathered around us.  I love cows and think they are wonderful creatures and I enjoyed listening to them moo at us and I even enjoy the scent of cow pasture even with all its gooey surprises.

Out of the basket we climbed and the ground crew began deflating the balloon and we hopped in a van to go to a very picturesque spot by a stream for our graduation ceremony.  We received certificates of achievement and toasted with champagne, a tradition from France it seems.

Back to the hostel we go to wait for the rest of the group to catch up with us.  The other five chose to go horseback riding and when they returned we shared stories of our adventures over lunch.

The afternoon took us all in different directions, San and Gin went to a wildlife museum, Dane, Sierra, Tim and Dan went to do alpine sledding, and I went for a mani-pedi.  We gathered again only to again go our separate directions.  Tim, Gin and Sierra went shopping (not my favorite thing to do those of you who know me well already know) so Dan, San, Dane, and I wandered Jackson and toured Ripley's Believe it or Not.  This was on Dane's wish list and we were happy to oblige him after he had endured countless hours observing rocks and stuff earlier in the trip. 

We met again in the town square, the one with the antler arches, and headed for dinner at the Mangy Moose.  Eating outside with a mountain as a backdrop was fun and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.  I love all the new types of flowers I get to see here.  These are lupines, Gin tells me.

Back to our rooms for a bit of computer time was next on the agenda and then to bed.  But not before I tried to knock myself out!  You see it was rather dark in the room and Sierra had her phone plugged in and I had to duck to under it as she was in the top bunk. No problem so far except that it was so dark that I didn't see the bottom of the wooden upper bunk board and smacked into it with my forehead!  Not a light tap either...it was a full blown hard hit that the boys heard in the next room!  Wow did it smart and I had visions of a large bruise and lump in the rest of the vacation pictures.  Those did not materialize, thankfully.  I guess because I hit it flat on and not on a corner it saved me from that.  And off to sleep we all went after a few minutes of laughter and giggles all around.