We had a bit of a break last week for half term and watched my mum go up in a balloon. The weather was fantastic for it. Despite nearly missing it, because we were stuck in rush hour traffic getting to the launch site, the stress was short lived and turned to excitement. There were 2 spaces still available, which didn't help when her grandson was desperate to go too, but was 3 inches too short!! (Nothing to do with the price and the fact we were not prepared for that sort of announcement!!)
The flight was supposed to last between 3/4 hour to an hour at the most, so we decided to follow in the car. I reckon that some of the 'spectators' must have been before....They stayed behind, all willing to be locked in the field with their cars! 2 hours and 21 miles of bendy narrow country roads, stopping and starting, with a child that gets carsick in the back was somewhat "interesting" yet fascinating at the same time! We followed the balloon the whole way. Luckily we were following the jeep and trailer which had done this a few times before, or we would certainly have headed in the opposite direction. On occasions it did look like they were going home and leaving them to it! The picture above was taken out of the car window the FIRST time we thought they were going to land. They headed back up in the sky for another half an hour after this was taken. The reason for the long flight, was that all the fields were full of crop and the balloon dictates the landing options, so whenever there was a suitable landing spot, the balloon wasn't happy to stop quite then!! They finally landed just as it had gone dark, in a farmer's field in the middle of nowhere.
The passengers were all jabbering away excitedly whilst they helped fold the balloon away into its teeny weeny bag (Still can't believe that massive expanse of material could fold down SO small).
It was a great experience. My mother is all ready to book again!!
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