My husband was pretty nervous about this hot air balloon ride. Once you get used to standing in a “Longaberger Basket” as he calls it, you will love it. The highest we went was about 5,200 feet and it was beautiful to see everything.
We chose a 6am flight and arrived about 15 minutes early to see the ground team getting the balloon ready. We filled out our paperwork and at exactly 6am, they called us over to the basket. After a couple pics, I didn’t even realize we left the ground and were floating already. It was truly a beautiful ride and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lancaster has beautiful scenery and as we were floating, some of the Amish farmers came out to greet us and say good morning.
As the wind is taking the balloon wherever it chooses (because they can only control up & down and turn us around- NO STEERING WHEEL PEOPLE!! Haha), you will notice the ground crew following behind OJ Style in a white van.
When the captain is looking for a landing spot, it may take the ground crew several tries before they find the right spot to land on any given day depending on the wind. They can land pretty much anywhere, but try to be considerate of crops and look for places that have been freshly cut.
We had a perfect day, saw straight to Philly and NJ. Sunrise was beautiful and it was about 60 degrees but with the flame up above us, we were all comfortable. I would suggest if your bald or bald-ING to wear a cap, as it can get very hot on your head depending upon where you are standing in the balloon.
We brought our Sony Action Cam and it did an amazing job, we can barely tell in the video that we are moving.
Did I mention champagne when you land? Yes, at 7:30am you must say the prayer and drink champagne. It’s the perfect ending to an awesome trip. These people rock!
~ Kellie S. from Orchard Beach, MD
