Last week I was lucky enough to go on another grand adventure…this time on a  Hot Air Balloon ride from Valley View Ballooning.

If the majority of the population were to make themselves a Bucket List (you know, a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket), I’m going to guess that “Hot Air Ballooning” would be on the lists of a fairly large portion of of those people. It would be on mine for sure.  Hot air ballooning just seems so peaceful and romantic and adventurous, doesn’t it? Let me tell you, I was not disappointed.  It was even more amazing, exhilarating, and beautiful than I could have imagined.

I have to admit that the night before my hot air ballooning adventure, I was feeling a little bit nervous.  I am a cautious person by nature and spend my fair share of time wondering about the “what if’s” in life.   But mixed in with a slight case of the nerves was also feeling of being very excited too.  I mean…I was about to take off in a hot air balloon.  How amazing is that?  I was a few hours away from having my own Wizard of Oz adventure, sans sparkly red shoes. (I had on white flats, if you must know.)

The hot air balloon adventure began at 6:30 in the morning in a field at Art Dye Park in American Fork, UT. There were nine of us total, going up in the wicker basket – the pilot, Bob Haut (owner of Valley View Ballooning) and eight passengers including my husband and myself, a couple getting married the next day, a mom and daughter, and a couple that was dating.

We were quickly put to work helping Bob and his wife Julie, and the rest of the crew at unrolling , setting up and inflating the balloon.  It made the experience complete to be a part of the hot air ballooning crew.

After the balloon was unrolled and attached to the basket, we began the daunting task of inflating such a large piece of fabric. We used two industrial sized fans to begin the inflation, and kept them blasting air until the balloon was  mostly inflated.

The balloon is almost ready for some heat.

Then it was time for Bob to fire up the propane burners.

Hearing the whoosh of the first blast, seeing the fire shooting into the balloon and feeling the heat from the flame - that's when the real sense of the hot air balloon adventure kicked in.

The balloon is slowly filling with hot air.

The balloon rises and is almost ready for take-off.

All that is left is to hop into the basket with the assistance of ground crew chief Marion Ito (who is also an attorney in the real world) and then take off into the wild blue yonder.

The assent was so slow, gradual, and smooth that even the most wary of passengers would feel at ease with the take off.  I absolutely was not scared for even a moment.  We floated up into the heavens on this beautiful sunny Utah morning. When asked how he controls the direction the balloon travels, Bob explained that at different altitudes the wind currents are blowing different speeds and directions and that by shifting altitudes he could generally maneuver the balloon. In fact, Bob’s motto is, “Steering wheels are for sissies.”

Here are some of the gorgeous sites from the hot air balloon flight.

Here's Kate on her Grand Hot Air Balloon Adventure

After an amazing journey, our pilot Bob began looking for a place to land the balloon. According to the Valley View Ballooning website, the pilot “will be looking for vacant lots, empty fields, parks, parking lots, and other possible landing sites.”  For our trip, the landing spot was a soccer field at Lone Peak High School.  With the ground crew and Bob’s wife, Julie, following the path of the balloon on the ground in vehicles and through the use of walkie talkies, all arrived at the landing spot at the same time.  Kudos to Bob for an absolutely soft and gentle landing.

But the adventure wasn’t over yet because we also pitched in with the dismantling of the balloon.

The balloon starts to deflate on a tarp put down by the ground crew to keep the balloon from getting wet.

Bryce Warner (from France) of the ground crew, and Bob Haut, balloon owner and pilot, unhook the cables which attach the balloon to the basket.

The top of the balloon detaches so the air can also escape through the top.

If you live in the Utah County area, and would like to go on a Hot Air Balloon Adventure like Kate, just click here and enter promotional code QWPQ2 or call 801-368-9920 and mention the code.

If you don’t live near Utah County, check out HotAirBallooning.com to find a hot air balloon ride near you.

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

Want to submit your own story to be considered for the Guest Headline post to run on Fridays?  Just let us know at lizandkate@live.com.

We are starting a new feature today called “Liz (or Kate) Goes on an Adventure”.  Whenever Liz (or Kate)  gets the chance to go somewhere interesting, unusual, cool, exciting or just plain weird, that we think you might be interested in, we’ll be snapping  pics of them there and sharing them with you.

So for the first adventure we present…

Kate Goes on an Adventure: Bonneville Salt Flats Speed Week

You’ll notice Kate there in the picture on the left, joined by Doug Steck and his Alfa Romeo, which set a new gas record this past Thurs.,  clocking in at a quick 230.368 mph.

Entering the world of the Bonneville Salt Flats is like entering an alien land.  At first view it appears as if  you have been transported into  a frigid, cold world of ice that stretches out for as far as the eye can see.  All you have to do is step out of the air conditioned car, and into the 95 degree August heat, to realize that it’s all an illusion.  The  Salt Flats, located in northwestern Utah, 4 miles from the Nevada border,  are 159 sq. miles (about the size of Lake Michigan) of strange, beautiful, flat, surreal land – a remnant of the ancient dried up Lake Bonneville from the Pleistocene era of dinosaurs.  In many areas the salt is 6 feet deep, and the land is completely inhospitable to plant life.

Bonneville Salt Flats in Northwestern Utah

The fact that this land  is extremely flat, covered in salt and aligned nearly perfectly with the shape of the Earth, make it the the ultimate spot for men and women from all over the world to test out their need for speed during Speed Week at the Bonneville Speedway. More  speed records have been set here than anywhere else in the world, some in excess of 600 mph.

On the left…the black line painted in the salt as a reference point for the pilots (they don’t like to be called drivers)

On the right…a tire caked in salt after racing

So on with Kate’s Adventure…That picture above of the salt flats is really what it looks like. There are no buildings,  no electricity, no water, no vegetation, no signs of civilization…just flat, blinding-white barren land.  Even for the world famous Speed Week.  Apparently all the racing fans need is a few porta- potties, some shade awnings, their campers, a few generators, plenty of testosterone,  and of course their prized cars, trucks and motorcycles.  I tagged along on this trip with my husband and nine year old son, armed with plenty of reading material, snacks, and a camping chair, anticipating being  slightly bored with the whole thing.  Boy was I ever WRONG.  This is undoubtedly one of the coolest, most amazing and exciting  things I have ever done.

I met people there from all over the world who came to the salt flats with life-long dreams of running their custom-made vehicles across that salt, all attempting to set new speed records in their specific categories.  Let me tell you about the French team, with their pastel teal blue and yellow Renault with the engine of a Suzuki 750 motorcycle. They spent their time and earnings building their dream vehicle and then shipped it off in a container to America, only to find that somehow in the process their  car had been destroyed in transit.  They frantically pieced her back together just in time for speed week.  And all this for a completely untested car (it seems there is no where in France to even make a test run.)

It was absolutely exciting to stand at the starting line with the French crew as their Renault made it’s first ever run. And leave it to the French to bring a sense of style to Bonneville, with their color coordinated pastel crew and car.

Kate gets a French kiss

On left…the French Renault takes off on it’s maiden journey

Here are some of my other favorite  people and images from my adventure to the Salt Flats.

This is Kim from Australia (yep she's a girl) preparing to attempt a 200 mph run. She clocked in at 199.

Doug and Jim Steck and their record setting Alfa Romeo

Getting the Alfa Romeo ready for a final run

The Alfa Romeo's stat sheet from the record setting run

Until the next adventure...

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

Want to submit your own story to be considered for the Guest Headline post to run on Fridays?  Just let us know at lizandkate@live.com.