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Ever look out the window of the plane as you are flying at 30,000 feet? Can you imagine how quiet and peaceful it must be? Take a hot air balloon ride and imagine no more. While you won’t be flying quite that high you will be floating above the Earth around 1,500 feet and believe me, it is quiet and peaceful.
To catch the sun rise I had to wake up at 5 a.m. -- you won’t catch me up that early for anything less than a hot air balloon ride. At 6 a.m. the owner of Bob’s Balloons, Bob Wilamoski, picked up my mom and I at the Peabody. We drove to another location where we picked up a family of four, then drove to Perkin’s Restaurant where we picked up a friendly couple, Russell and Rita, who were visiting from the UK with their daughters. From here we drove to the launch location where Bob’s Balloons and other balloon companies would be launching half a dozen hot air balloons.
Upon arriving at our launch location they were already putting air into some of the balloons. At first sight you would never believe these large balloons would ever make it off the ground, but indeed they do. Bob and his crew began laying out the balloons his company would be sending up. While they worked the rest of us visited with one another and enjoyed the sight of all the balloons slowly disappearing out of sight. As they began to fill the balloon with air we were allowed to walk inside the balloon to see what the inside looks like and see just how large they really are. Once the balloon is full of air then it has to be heated in order for it to rise, hence “hot air” balloon. The first balloon took a few times to get full of hot air, but finally it stayed full and before long the family of four and their pilot were off the ground.
Next, it was our turn to take to the sky in our red and white striped balloon. As we left the ground the sun was just beginning to rise and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, just some haze in the distance. It was an amazing sight to see the sunrise in a hot air balloon and one I will never forget. We got to float over I-4, the expressway looks like a river snaking through the trees, at closer look you can see the cars and it looks as though they are just toy cars that you could pick up. We also floated over a golf course, many lakes where we were able to look down and see our own reflection, forests where we could see all the wildlife, and as we descended we floated just 60 feet above the houses and were able to talk to the people.
What an extraordinary experience! After making a very smooth landing in a field next to a CVS store we waited with Russell and Rita, and Bob for our chase crew to arrive. The chase crew talks to Bob throughout the flight to find out where you are going to land so that they can be in the area to pick you up. Once they arrived and packed up the balloon we had a champagne and orange juice toast as well as some tasty snacks.
Overall, I loved every minute of the hot air balloon experience! Bob, George and the entire team at Bob’s Balloons make it a smooth, enjoyable ride. I highly recommend taking a hot air balloon flight while you are in Orlando. You can’t take in the breathtaking views of Disney and beautiful scenery anywhere else.
For more information please visit www.BobsBalloons.com
- Chad Kennedy, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
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