"This Country...in a Balloon"

On Monday, April 23rd, our relationship and adventures in Arizona reached new heights! Jillian and I took a hot air balloon ride! This is saying a lot since Jillian is TERRIFIED of heights. I can still remember our first plane flight together, and how tightly she squeezed my arm most of the flight. I may still have physical and emotional scars! But she was such a great sport. When I first told Jillian that we could do this, I could tell she was thrilled about the opportunity, and terrified to face her fear, but after a few minutes of thinking about it she was all in (of course, over the ensuing weeks, she wavered back and forth, but in the end her excitement won out!). The night before the trip, Addi had a sleepover at my sister's house so she could sleep in and my cousin could watch her in the morning. We woke up at 4 in the morning, drove across town, met our crew and drove to our balloon launch site where the balloon was laid out, and inflated. We didn't have to wait long to be loaded up and rise over the Arizona desert and mountains just in time for sunrise! At first Jillian wouldn't open her eyes, and had to focus to keep from freaking out, but she pulled through with some immense amount of inner strength, and the encouragement of our fellow passengers, who just happened to be my sister and her family! For the next couple ours, we floated over the mountains, around an open mine and an airport, across ranches and homes, beside flowing rivers, and green fields. We saw horses and jack rabbits and cows (not to mention cars and people out for morning walks) scurrying beneath us. The wind was in our favor, and the sun created picturesque sights. When the time came to land, we started our descent, but found that the wind at ground level was too strong, so we ascended again and continued our journey. We attempted to land a few more times, and when we were finally able to, our balloonist shot for an access road between farm fields. We landed on an irrigation canal, and after the crew got us unstuck, we came to rest on our side. It turns out that landing near farm fields is not to popular with the local farmers since there are some balloonists that land right in the middle of fields, without regard for the crops they damage. A farmhand drove in on his tractor right away, and called his boss, and the police. It all turned out fine, and added even more excitement to a tremendous adventure. After the ride, we were driven back to a park for brunch, where my cousin and Addi met us. We are quickly discovering that there is ALWAYS something new, fun, and exciting to do in our new corner of the world! A neighboring balloon that launched just before us:

Jillian and Summer anxiously waiting for our balloon to inflate:

Pre-flight excitement!

The inside of the balloon, fully inflated:

I know she was focusing on her nerves, but Jillian made phobias look so gorgeous in this picture!

The first mountain range we crossed:

The reflection of our balloon on the wheat fields below:

landing:

All of the family- safe on the ground again:

Our balloonist, recounting his harrowing tale of how he risked our lives and landed on an irrigation canal, rather than ruin a farmers crops. The police man thought it was all so awesome!