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Saved: February 24th 2016
There she is folks
94 year old is airborne and on her first flight.I just had to blog! Last week Judy and I picked up Judy's mother just outside Charleston, WV where our sister-in-law was so nice to deliver her. Her mother knew we had been ballooning several times last year and said she would like to do that. We checked with Rick (the pilot and neighbor) and he said he would be willing to have her take a flight. So for the past year, or close to it, she has been waiting for her opportunity to be his oldest passenger. Friday was the magic day and the weather was hot and clear but a little windy. The festival in Marysville was underway and they expected 35 hot air balloons to be flying Friday evening. After putting everything together, and with the balloon on the ground, we waited for the wind to settle down a little. Just before 7 it died down a little and we started to fill the balloon. Our grandson and his friend helped us set up and they held the balloon open for a while as the air was blowing in. When it got to be too hard to handle the adults took over. Then we fired up the burner.
Jonathan & Nicky
The boys rode in the basket out to the set up area. They both wanted to go up! We finally were able to upright the balloon and called for Judy's mom to get on board. With a helping hand from several of us we boosted her over the side and into the basket. It was decided that Judy would go along since it was her mother and I would be in the chase car for when they landed and needed help. Once the tether was pulled loose they took off quickly and gained altitude faster than expected. For the next 45 minutes they flew and had a wonderful time watching the scenery. They were actually the first balloon off so the spectators were taking pictures so often you could hear the click of the cameras (just kidding). As a matter of fact we heard that a newsman was there taking photos and had heard about the 94 year old going up in a balloon for her first trip. We wonder if it will make the news! Coming down was a little rough as the wind didn't let up as it usually does in the evening. Three of us managed to hold on and drag it to a stop, get Mom out of the balloon, and then race around
Setting up time
Laying out the equipment and preparing to blow the air into the balloon. to help others who were struggling with the wind. Although very tired, she was beaming from ear to ear! Two days later and she said she noticed her leg muscles are tight and her back a little sore, and said if she does it again she'd like to be able to sit down. How about that! So here are a few of the photos I managed to take as we prepared and then watched the balloon lift off.
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