Dance with the Wind

Ingrid has always wanted to do it.

I swore I'd never do it.

Then James called me. "I'm going to surprise mom with a hot air balloon ride when you come out to see me."

Pause 

"Do you want to go with us?"

I couldn't really imagine staying on the ground while Ingrid and James had that adventure, so I said, "Sure, I'll do it."

James and I kept the surprise. We just let Ingrid know that James had a special and secret excursion planned for us on Tuesday, and that we'd be staying at a hotel near the event.

On Monday, we headed south to Temecula and a Bed & Breakfast known as the Inn at Churon Winnery, whose website is here.

The Inn is fabulous, the rooms gracious, and the staff is fun, generous, and helpful. Sophana was able to join us, and appropriate accommodations were made.

We took a tour of our surroundings.

Here's the front door, with James' hybrid parked before it.

 

A little walk down the hillside road and a wider look at the B&B.

 

A quiet corner for meditation. . .

 

. . . and for pictures of us . . .

 

 

. . . and of neighboring vineyards beyond us and around us:

 

 

 

And looking back from that quiet corner we saw theInn's graceful terraced garden, and the balconies affording a magnificent view from every room.

 

Ingrid was so impressed and delighted with our secret destination, which she took to be the excursion to the Inn and its surrounding vineyards. Adding to the fun, the B&B's guests were invited to a complimentary evening wine-tasting from 5-6. The Churon's vintages are superb, from Cabernets to Zinfandels, and we enjoyed each offering. 

(At the front desk there were many brochures boasting area ballooning businesses, and on the second floor a large poster showing colorful ascending hot air balloons, with more brochures on a table beneath it. James and Sophana and I held our breath every time Ingrid walked past them.)

Apparently Temecula is small enough that almost every restaurant closed after the Fourth of July festivities. Fortunately, the South Coast restaurant was open, and you can visit it here.

The only downside for Ingrid was discovering we would be waking up early the following morning at 5:10 am for the BIG EVENT scheduled for 6:00 am.

So at about 5 minutes to 6:00 we rode off in search of . . . what? James' GPS took us to a dead end, but James had written instructions which brought us to another winery's parking lot for buses and limousines. Hmmm. James made a call. Aha! The event was coming to us!

A few moments later, a red truck pulling a cart pulled into the parking lot, and as it did Ingrid spotted a mustard-colored basket. Suddenly, along with the sun, dawn broke! And James got the reaction for which he'd been hoping and planning all these months.



After taking the basket from the cart, tarps were laid down to protect the balloon.

 

Next, the placement of the propane burners . . .

 

. . . and the unfurling of the balloon . . .



. . . and attaching the balloon and basket (as an earlier balloon ascends).

 

Now it's time to fill the balloon with the burner's super-heated blasts. . .

 

 

 

And now it's time to climb aboard!

 

 

My biggest surprise was the intense heat generated by the propane burner. I was glad I'd worn my hat!

 

We have company.

 

James and Ingrid look back on the Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards, from whose parking lot our balloon ascended.

 

Not too far up yet . . .

 

Whoa! How'd we get this high?! What are those balloons doing way down there?!

 

Yikes!

 

We climbed to fourteen hundred feet, more than a quarter of a mile high.

Or, 140 stories. Or, the height of the Sears Tower without the antennas. Or, the height of the Empire State Building including the antenna.



James is justifiably happy . . .

 

Perhaps not just for the triumph of Ingrid's surprise . . .

 

 

As we sailed along, I wondered how high this balloon above us had traveled. "Oh," said Dominic, our pilot, "we were as high up as he is."

 

"Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon?" "Up, up, and away!"

 

 

The next photograph is a lousy photograph. It catches the single split second when our pilot wasn't enthusing about ballooning, tracking our altitude, switching to the next propane canister, or explaining how he directs the balloon's flight by ascending or descending as necessary to catch the wind's movement.



In fact, as we learned later, Dominic has flown about every kind of aircraft there is, and in the 1970s became the first FAA inspector ever to actually go up in a balloon in order to see for himself whether a prospective new pilot was qualified for a license! Before then, no FAA inspector had been willing to risk the ride! You can read more about Dominic and D & D Ballooning here. (The second "D" stands for his wife, Dawn.)

The sun, only a little higher in the sky than we, burst through the cloud cover about halfway through our flight.

 

"What goes up, must come down. . . ." And so we began our final descent. . .



 

Notice the covered swimming pool as we approach our landing point:

 

Less than a quarter of the way through our flight, Dominic called down to his crew to let them know he was planning to land on the property of one of his fellow balloonists, Denni Barrett.

Sure enough, about 45 minutes later, Dominic is piloting us toward Denni's home, as his red truck races to our landing field down one road . . .

 

. . . and up another to Denni's place.



As we approach, Dominic makes a nifty 90 degree turn as we slowly but surely continue our approach, and I take two quick pictures while we're still aloft:

 

 

 

One of our fellow passengers debark, assisted by one of the crew, while her daughter and another companion watch, and Dominic attends to the balloon.

 

Dominic and his crew begin the work of dismantling and packing up:

 

 

Sad to watch the balloon deflate. . .

 

 

After the balloon had been repacked, and the basket secured to the cart, Ingrid, James, Sophana, and I climbed back into the basket for the return trip to the parking lot, while our companions and the crew rode in the truck's cab.

When we arrived, our adventure continued with a picnic breakfast of orange juice, small powdered donuts, bagels and Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and spicy barbecued chicken!

Dominic regaled us with stories about ballooning, his life (severly wounded in a mid-air helicopter crash the day before he would have deployed to Viet Nam), and marriage proposals (all wonderful but one excruciating refusal: the intended berated the poor man for being "stupid stupid stupid" during the rest of the balloon ride-- Dominic barely restraining himself from throwing her overboard! After landing she continued to disparage the hapless young man to any and all who came within earshot. "And the saddest part," said Dominic, "is that he continued to try to make it better and get her back, while all of us are thinking 'you are so lucky to be rid of her!'"

Our balloon ride was glorious, and because the balloon follows the wind, there isn't any turbulence, just calm and quiet, periodically interrupted by a blast of fire. After each blast, about 40-50 seconds passes until the heated air makes its way to the top of the balloon, and it begins to rise again. Only as the balloon enters a new stream of air in ascending or descending is there the slightest sensation of wind before the balloon adjusts and all is placid again.

As the picnic drew to its end, Dominic prepared a FIRST FLIGHT IN A HOT AIR BALLOON CERTIFICATE for each of us:

Let It Be Known to all that on this day July 5th in the year 2011, and in the balloon The Don IV  James, Ingrid, Bill, & Sophana boldly ascended into the heavens, for the first time, in a hot air balloon.

Let It Also Be Known, the bearers of this certificate have been duly initiated into the world of ballooning, and are entitled to all recognitions and admirations accorded to those who have chosen to dance with the wind.

Certified by: Dominic J. Chemillo  Pilot

The winds have welcomed you with softness,

the sun has blessed you with his warm hands,

you have flown so high and so well that God has joined you in laughter,

and set you gently back into the loving arms of mother earth.

Comments

[Peggi Adams]

Bill, you really should be writing a book, you have the absolute perfect gift of description and the ability to take us with you on this glorious trip....thank you so much for this!!

[Dominic Chemello, D&D Ballooning]

Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to share with others. I appreciate all of your great text and pictures. Hope you and all your family and friends have a GREAT day. Dominic Chemello, D&D Ballooning, Temecula, CA

[Bill McCamment]

Hi, Bill, this is Bill, remember me? LOL

Great blog post and fantastic photography! We sure had a great day, didn't we? You guys are too much fun!