There are very few actual items on my Bucket List. I mean, there are many things I want to do before I "kick the bucket" but only a handful of things come to mind as Bucket List items. This past March I was able to cross one of those things off - riding in a hot air balloon.
So why am I bringing this up now? Well, its Father's Day in the U.S. (and other places, like the Philippines, but not Thailand - Thai Father's Day is in December since it coincides with the King's birthday - sorry, that was a tangent) and the only thing more special than getting to ride in a hot air balloon was being able to do it with my Dad.
My parents and I were in Cappadocia, Turkey, which is known for its "Fairy Chimneys" and one of the more popular options for tourists is to go on an early morning hot air balloon ride over these awesome rock formations. We woke up at 5 (I think?), put on as many layers as we had (for me it was thick socks, leggings, jeans, undershirt, 2 long sleeve shirts, a sweater, and my mom's leather jacket, plus gloves and a scarf - oh, and I was still cold), and were driven out a ways into an empty field. As we were driving out to our starting location my dad and I noticed that we were passing most other people's starting spots and for a while we were worried that our guys didn't know what they were doing or had missed the boat on getting the best spot to lift off.
We helped ourselves to some tea and biscuits while the crew was getting the balloon all set up and after getting a brief (but thorough) safety talk we all clamored into the basket. And Away We Went!!!
*For the most part, I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking...
As it turns out, we were wrong about our guys. Choosing a spot away from everyone else gave us not only a fantastic view of all the other balloons going up but also gave us a ride that covered much more distance. It was awesome passing right by some of the rock formations - almost close enough to touch them - because our balloon was actually travelling; most of the other balloons were forced to just go up and down because of how close they were to each other.
Our landing was a little rough. It took us 4? 5? (I can't quite remember) tries to actually land and when we did it was pretty bumpy. However, we were braced for impact and happily our basket didn't fall over so it could have been worse! They weren't allowed to serve us real champagne but we were each given a certificate and a glass of sparkling cider and then we were on our way back to the hotel.
It was worth every penny doing that balloon ride and I couldn't imagine doing with with anyone other than my Dad. I love you so much Daddy - Happy Father's Day!!!
So why am I bringing this up now? Well, its Father's Day in the U.S. (and other places, like the Philippines, but not Thailand - Thai Father's Day is in December since it coincides with the King's birthday - sorry, that was a tangent) and the only thing more special than getting to ride in a hot air balloon was being able to do it with my Dad.
My parents and I were in Cappadocia, Turkey, which is known for its "Fairy Chimneys" and one of the more popular options for tourists is to go on an early morning hot air balloon ride over these awesome rock formations. We woke up at 5 (I think?), put on as many layers as we had (for me it was thick socks, leggings, jeans, undershirt, 2 long sleeve shirts, a sweater, and my mom's leather jacket, plus gloves and a scarf - oh, and I was still cold), and were driven out a ways into an empty field. As we were driving out to our starting location my dad and I noticed that we were passing most other people's starting spots and for a while we were worried that our guys didn't know what they were doing or had missed the boat on getting the best spot to lift off.
We helped ourselves to some tea and biscuits while the crew was getting the balloon all set up and after getting a brief (but thorough) safety talk we all clamored into the basket. And Away We Went!!!
*For the most part, I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking...
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