Hot Air Balloon Ride, Willamette Valley, Oregon, Part II

Last week I shared a post about a milestone birthday celebration we enjoyed for our dear friend, Tim. Regular readers of this blog will remember reading about our dear friends and travel buddies, Tim and Lisa. We’ve shared some wonderful adventures with them over the years, but his recent birthday celebration was one for the books!

After a luxurious stay at the Allison Inn and Spa nestled in the Willamette Valley Wine Country, a three-course dinner in their award winning restaurant, The Jory, we enjoyed a hot air balloon ride in the stunningly gorgeous Willamette Valley. I covered the assent and first thrilling moments of the ride last week; click here to read that post.

Rob, like all hot air balloon pilots, uses the burners to warm the air in the ballon to make it rise. To lower the balloon, he simply allows the air to cool. If a quick descent is needed, he opens the vents to release some of the warm air.

One of the highlights of the ride was when Rob gently lowered the balloon down and skimmed the surface of the river; spectacular.

But all too soon, it was time to land. Rob explained that Vista has talked with many landowners in the valley over the years about allowing balloonists to land in their harvested fields. He located an empty field and down we went. We slowly drifted down, just barely brushing tree-tops as the ground rose up to meet us. Three gentle little bumps, and the ride was over.

Although Rob had continuously communicated with the chase team, they were a good 10 minutes away. Soon we saw a man walking towards us. Rob explained that it had been at least ten years since he last landed here, he hoped it was the same land owner, and if not, that the owner was open to us landing there! We were at least 300 feet away from the man as he slowly walked towards us. There was some nervous anticipation as he closed in. It’s important to share that since the chase team had not yet arrived, we were captive in the basket. After several minutes of anticipation, the land owner finally reached us and bellowed a loud; “Welcome! How was your ride?” There was a collective big sigh of relief as we chatted and thanked the owner.

Soon the chase team arrived and it was time to climb out of the basket. Thankfully, we didn’t have to hurry to get out like we did to get into the basket.

Next we began the process of deflating the balloon and folding it for storage. Even though it wasn’t required, we all chipped in to help. Several of us stepped aside at times to take photos and videos, and to get a much needed break; this was tough work!

And so it is finished. We had a spectacular time and enjoyed every minute.

We returned to the Allison for breakfast and chatted constantly about the ride; what a wonderful experience.

As I mentioned last week, Lisa booked our ride through Vista Balloon Adventures, which I highly recommend if you’re in the area and want to take a ride.

As always, I would love to hear from you, so leave a comment if you’d like.

Wishing you grand and aerial adventures,

Tricia