So on November 10, 2008, we celebrated our eight year wedding anniversary. And we decided to do it in style. What better way than to hitch a ride on a hot air balloon and see the city and desert like the buzzards that frequently circle the air over the hot desert? Perfect. We had never been on a hot air balloon so this was a perfect excuse to do something that could leave our kids complete orphans.
For those of you that have not been on a hot air balloon ride, this will serve as a "101" class that should fill you in on all the details they fail to let you know as you float away from the planet.
We chose to use a company based out of Phoenix, called Hot Air Expeditions. Their website is really nice and reassuring. And we had a coupon that took the per person cost from about $180 to $130, not bad savings. Plus we had a $5 off coupon for the gift shop. The only thing we had to do was show up at the Deer Valley Airport and hitch a ride on their shuttle to the launch pad and relax.
After a bit of confusion at the Airport, where we were looking for a building or an office, we found the white van in the parking lot with the company's logo on the side. In hindsight, the company just uses the airport as a convenient place to meet; I'm pretty sure the airport has no idea, or cares, but Hot Air Expeditions makes it sound like they have an office or something. They don't. So, we met our 10 other "basket-mates" and climbed in the van and we were off.
We drove a bit out to Cave Creek and noticed a big balloon laid out on the dirt with rather powerful gas driven fans about to blow untold volumes of air into the giant balloon.
So there we were. Our Captain, Frank the Fearless, took everyone over to the basket and pointed out the foot holes on the sides of the basket that we were to use to climb in and pointed out the rope loops on the inside of the basket that we can use to hold on. He then just basically said, "When I say get in, we need everyone to get in very quickly." It took about 30 minutes for the team to get the balloon inflated to the point that it wanted to get blown around by the wind. Now, they had the basket tethered to a truck, but now even the basket was starting to move around. They tipped the basket upright and the Captain said, "Everyone GET IN!" The first two people jumped into the basket and before anyone else could get in, a gust of wind caught the balloon and pulled the basket on its side again. At this point, I think I was wondering, "Where are the sandbags?" And, "This isn't looking so safe." Well, after a bit of wrestling, the basket was ready, so we jumped in and as more and more people piled into the basket, it became nice and stable. Thankfully, no one was injured, including the lady celebrating her 70th birthday as she and her 105 lbs frame scrambled over the rail.
And we were off! It should be noted that we both prepared for a rather chilly ride. After all, it was only about 65 degrees on the ground and surely as we sailed off into the air, things might get cold. One oversight in our planning was the presence of the massive burner that was rather close to us and rather hot. I'm not sure of the BTU rating of this thing, but I'm sure it could have cooked an entire cow in under 5 seconds. We were not cold. Check out the video at the bottom of the post!
Over the next hour or so, we sailed along, going up and going down. We went as high as about 4,500 feet and down real low. But generally we were right around 3,000 feet up in the air. This is apparently how one steers a balloon. Having a general idea of where you want to go, and with some knowledge of prevailing winds, a skilled pilot can maneuver the balloon up and down, making the balloon enter into different winds, thus pushing the balloon in the desired direction. Our captain, at some point early in the flight demonstrated that when we land, we all need to grab hold of the rope loops on the inside and bend our knees to absorb the shock of the landing. A few of us practiced, though it seemed simple enough, the important thing was not to be rigid, so our bodies wouldn't be broken like a basket full of toothpicks. This lesson proved to be useless.
After a while, Captain Frank was on the radio asking about wind conditions, our position, etc. I was starting to understand that we were sailing a bit north of where the tour would like to go. We could also see the other balloon sailing east, while we continued straight north. In an effort to get us to move east, Captain Frank lowered the balloon to just above the earth, skimming across the desert at a pace of about 5 mph. I know this because I peeked at the meter affixed to the balloon that contained speed and altitude information. The radio kept saying the wind at the surface was blowing east, but we weren't experiencing it. We were headed north.
Then I heard the Captain say into the radio, "If I see a clearing, I'm going to put her down." I'm sorry Frank, what did you say? Now at the time, we were sailing over desert, complete with palo verde trees, big cactus, cactus bushes, cactus rocks, and cactus dirt. And we had picked up speed. We were moving at 10 mph! I know this seems pretty slow, but when skimming over the desert, let me tell you, it's fast. It should be noted here that up to this point, 100% of the information I have gathered is in no part due to the communication skills of Captain Frank. Everything I have gathered, I overheard or saw, and many in the basket were none the wiser.
Then we heard the words I'm pretty sure no was was ready to hear. "Everyone get DOWN!" Now is a good time to point out that in our basket was 12 passengers and Captain Frank. We were packed in there. So "getting down" wasn't all that easy. I tried to break out in the popular 80's dance, "the running man," in an attempt to comply with the "GET down" order, but I think Captain Frank meant something else. Looking back, Captain Frank's order should have been interpreted as, "protect your physical body from the impending crash."
Sure enough, we hit a large Palo Verde tree, and much to my surprise, we cut through that thing like a 2000 lbs basket at 10mph cuts through a tree. It offered very little resistance. A few shrieks came from those of us now tucked into the basket and then we hit the dirt and anything that was down there. If our experience from getting into the balloon taught us anything, it's that the wind can take the enormous balloon for a ride no matter what the passengers do, and that is what we did. We started dragging across the desert floor quickly after crushing the tree, but almost immediately, the basket tipped on its side and we started dragging with with open part of the basket facing forward. Sometimes we would lift off the ground, then slam back to earth, drag a bit more, almost stop, and then drag some more. Finally, the balloon deflated enough to come to a stop. Frank then said, "No one get out, or the rest of us are going for a ride again." So we all stayed still until the balloon deflated completely. Here are the photos of the basket evacuation. You can see the picture of the destroyed tree, fully half of the thing was totally shredded. Check out the video after the post!
As you can see in the pictures, everyone was all smiles, after all, most of us were happy to be alive. I think we were all happy that the 70 year old lady escaped unharmed as well. After we all got out, inspected the tree, some 150 feet of drag trails, we started to realize that had we dragged another 20 feet or so, we all would have crashed into a cactus garden, the bush kind, with 2 inch spikes everywhere. It would have been horrible. Looking around, Captain Frank did a great job, and the tree probably saved us all from looking like a pin cushions. That tree and the subsequent dragging was just enough to bring us to a stop before we left the clearing and entered into Ouchville.
After the sun set, we all quickly realized that the pick up crew had no idea where we were. With darkness settling in, we were glad to have the heavy clothes on as the desert quickly cooled off. Most of us were preparing for our own version of "Survivor" and a few of us had started forming "Tribes" and were determining who should start to gather food and who should go for help. Then Captain Frank, along with a few of us, tipped the basket over upright and he started doing some burns to alert the vans and trucks of our location. After all, we had been there for about 30 minutes and it was clear that Frank's communication skills were not directing the crew to our location. Pretty much just like his communication skills totally left us unprepared in the event of a crash landing. But sure enough, it worked! We saw the lights of the vans and trucks weaving their way through the desert towards our location. We were saved! It was at this point that I think we appreciated the "Happy Anniversary" sign affixed to the side of the basket as we signaled for rescue. Nice touch Hot Air Balloon Expeditions!
When the truck showed up, the crew began unloading some tables and light hors de overs and some champagne! Captain Frank then told the story of the first ballooners that carried campaign and it saved their lives. Because when they crashed the farmers thought they were demons or something. But then they saw the champagne with the kings seal on it, so they were saved! Suddenly we had something in common with the first French Balloonists.
The little snacks were a bit lacking, really nothing special, but it was a great chance to relax and enjoy some mini food and embellish the story and recall the events of the last 2 hours.
Needless to say, we left the desert location a bit hungry, so then we headed off to Scottsdale to Maggiano's, an Italian restaurant, that is pretty darn good. After getting there, we realized that the food would taste especially good, considering we were really hungry and just survived a balloon crash. So we ordered, ate the dinner and even had dessert.
And that pretty much wrapped up the evening...until we started to leave and noticed the strange lights in the sky, an odd saucer shapped aircraft hovering over our car. Okay, okay, so no alien abduction, but we did have an anniversary to remember!
Video Bonus!
UPDATE! We want to say that while we had quite the adventure, we also had a great time and would do it again. Our overall experience was super, and despite the small hiccups, it was one heck of a ride. You can read more about the incredible follow up to the story here.