Living in the moment

On Friday morning at 5:30 AM, Jeff, Lynn and I were sitting in a dark Denny's parking lot waiting for a lady named Becky Fleur. She had promised us the experience of a lifetime. You see, Becky and her husband Mike own a hot air balloon company.

A large crew-cab pick-up truck shows up with a loaded bed and a tarp over the back, then a SUV with a trailer and a few more cars follow. I know Lynn and Jeff were thinking what has Richelle's gotten us into now! Both of them are a little afraid of heights, but were being so kind to indulge me and my wish to float in the sky.

We all loaded up and set out into to the dark desert. After a few miles we pull into a school parking lot and drove through a gate into a field. The crew jump out and begin unloading. Jeff helped walk under the deflated balloons and push it up into the air as the heat caused it to fill. Lynn was working on his balloon by holding the mouth of it open for the air to be blown inside. Within a 20 minutes we had 2 beautiful hot air balloons sitting next to this school! ( I have soooooo many pictures and video I couldn't possibly put them all on the blog. It was stunning!)

Because we were in two balloons, I had to opportunity to take gorgeous pictures. the yellow and orange balloon was Lynn's. We were in a black and rainbow striped one. BEAUTIFUL! As we glided above houses and tree tops, people came out of their homes and waved to us. I'm sure they knew we were coming by the commotion the dogs were making. We scared so many poor jackrabbits, coyotes, and cows, it's not funny!

Lynn's balloon was able to land in a typical spot. Our balloon, however, caught a good wind and we were carried farther north. The pilot said he had never taken guests on such a long ride. We just couldn't find a place to land! Finally, he decided to take it down in a barbed-wire fenced field. The crew couldn't get to us fast enough, so we landed and Jeff and I had to jump out to help hold it down! What a sight! HA! We got a few bruises and scrapes, but it was a once in a lifetime experience.

Perhaps, the toughest part was getting all the equipment loaded back over the fence! I took one for the team when I slipped and fell, landing on the barbed wire. OUCH! I know you're shocked that someone as graceful as myself could have such a mishap, aren't you? Once Becky pulled the barb out of my BUTT, I was asked to stay on the other side of the fence with my ripped blue jeans and underwear shining! (Yeah, real embarrassing!)

Once we had loaded up, the Fleurs drove us to a local park at the base of Sombrero Point and we had a champagne brunch. They shared with us the history of ballooning and why it is tradition to drink champagne after each ride, it was lovely (even if ours was sparkling cider).

I will always remember Tucson for the moments I spent in the sky drifting over the cacti. You truly have to live in the moment every chance you get. What was your moment for today?