High flying fun with the Lombardi's

Last year for Christmas Rob and I gave his parents gift certificates to go on a hot air balloon ride. We all decided (Rob, me, his sister) that it would be fun and we should go too. We finally got around to going this past Wednesday (October 8th). The bean seemed to not like the noise of the flames to heat the air. (S)he kicked heartily every-time the noise stopped. Rob argued that it must mean (S)he liked it! Here are some pictures of our adventure:






Rob and I were running late (we got lost. oops my bad) but we made it with seconds to spare to hear the safety briefing. I almost got myself kicked off the balloon because I admitted I was pregnant. Our pilot Tony was a little nervous having me on the balloon but I had clearance from my Doctor so he grudgingly let me. Here we are in front of our basket. Due to my pregnancy we had a Lombardi only balloon.




Here we are (and by we I obviously mean all of us but Rob- we needed someone taking pictures!) in front of the other balloon that got ready a little faster than ours.



Here is a shot of the other balloon flying ahead of us over the beautiful fall foliage. The views were spectacular! It was so clear we could see the Boston skyline, all of the islands in Boston harbor and the Isle of Shoals off of Portsmouth (Where Rob is going diving with seals this sunday)




Our pilot swooped us down to a lake (the basket actually touched the water) Rob and I leaned over to take this picture of our reflection in the lake.




As I mentioned before, Tony (our pilot) was a little anxious about my "delicate" condition. He wanted to get us to a very large field to land in so we had a better chance of a soft landing. The winds were taking us into the forests due north. Tony flew us higher than he normally would to hit some easterly winds to get to the less forested land. We maxed out at 4,250 feet. The views were remarkable!! (HEY LOOK there's Rob's arm. He really was there!)



Here is a picture of Beanie Baby in the air. (S)he was kicking up a storm all flight. SO FUN!



We did land safely and gently on a hill in a Condo Complex about 7 1/2 miles NorthEast from where we took off. It was a wonderful trip and a great landing. We all had a blast!




And finally- our balloon being put away. It fit nicely on the lawn in front of the condos. This is a great shot of the moon rising in the background. The condo owners were so excited to see us. One of the owners has their own flight booked with Tony for next Tuesday.


All in all it was a super trip!! Just another adventure for the bean before he/she even arrives!