Ride in a hot air balloon

“A number of things are wrong. First, I’m standing in a field surrounded by darkness, my mind pulling the covers over its head and mumbling into its pillow. Second, I’m in Spain and it’s summer, yet frost dances along the grass and flames snarl into the air like snake tongues at an all-night rave. Third, and most significantly, I’m about to climb into an oversized picnic basket that’s going to whisk me hundreds of metres above the earth with not so much as a seatbelt, a lifejacket or a parachute on hand. There’s not even going to be a well-groomed routine pointing out the nearest emergency exit. I’m about to step into a hot air balloon. And, though I don’t like to say it, I feel nervous.”

“Once we were ready for flight, he ordered the crew to get some slack in the line, and then Casey released the tether. Instantly we were moving west and climbing. It wasn’t a jolt though—the only way you realized you were moving was by sight. I was very impressed by the climb rate; it seemed like just a couple of burns and we were at 1,200 ft. AGL. Once at “cruise” we took in the 360-degree, almost completely unobstructed views. With a combination of burns and opening the parachute at the top of the envelope to let hot air out, we stayed at a pretty steady altitude.”

“For some reason I imagined a hot air balloon floating down softly into a field of grass. But in reality, our hot air balloon bounced a few times before settling onto the field of grass.”

“I had no idea we were going to get to hang out in the sky for as long as we did! For some reason, I thought hot air balloon rides would be shorter. But the entire hour we were in the sky absolutely surpassed by experiences. We lucked out and it was super clear out when we flew that day. We got to see the gorgeous peaks of the Cascade Mountains, the Willamette Valley, and more.”