Around the Parking Lot in 80 Seconds

Check out the pictures of Varacchi's hot air balloon experience from this past weekend!

On Saturday night, Lester Glenn Hyundai on Route 37 stayed open late for a big sale and was offering hot air balloon rides!

The weather wasn't great at first, and threatened to keep the balloon grounded. Around 7:30 the people at In Flight Balloon Adventures decided the risk was gone, and the balloon took off!

Unfortunately the wind was strong enough to keep us from reaching a higher altitude, and we stayed around 50 feet in the air. I don't have a real fear of heights, but the fear of being exposed in the gondola made it scary. There are no seat belts to hold you in, no nets to catch you, the only things for you to hold are the bars of the gondola itself. Adding to the fear was feeling the blasts of heat every time the pilot Keith would pull the trigger on the gas and shoot balls of flame up into the canopy of the balloon.

I ended up going twice, and it was a lot of fun!  I would definitely do it again if given the chance.  Big thanks to Keith from In Flight Balloon Adventures for being a great pilot, check out the pix here!