Temecula

Another notch in my belt… I have a long “to do list” of things that must be done before I…  Well you know  - before I get tired, or leave this earth – which ever one comes first.  A ride in a hot air balloon has been way down at the bottom of my list,  but as chance would have it, I decided to drive out to Temecula this morning and watch the hot air balloons launch.   

I was up at 4 am because the balloons were scheduled to take off at 6:30 am – early for me – but I made it.  Driving through the Inland Empire was easy as pie.  Much too early for traffic, so I was able to speed right along.  When I closed in on Lake Skinner it was a different matter.  Not a lot of traffic, at least not in front of me,  it was all

piled up behind me. The fog was so thick I could hardly see the edge of the road, and even though I knew it was unlikely, I kept seeing my car taking a plunge into the lake - so I drove VERY slowly - much to the chagrin of everyone behind me.

I finally made it to the parking lot ( there was a lot of applause from behind me as I turned in and parked).

It was so overcast that morning that most of the balloon owners were driving off to find another spot to launch.  I decided to stay at Lake Skinner and take my chances.  Am I glad I did.  I got a chance to see the balloons inflated and an opportunity to go inside one of the balloons as it was filled with air.  I got in line to ride one of the balloons but felt much like the little boy standing with his family in front of me.... not too sure.  But I jumped in and we were "up, up and away".  It was fun (even though we were tethered to the ground and only went up about six or so stories).  

This last image is a young man helping to deflate the balloon.  He gathered the balloon in his arms, walked backwards and pushed the air out - much like you would squeeze the last drops of toothpaste out of the tube.