Litchfield County, CT – Hot Air Balloon Launch

So, I was hanging out at my friends house watching our girls swim in their pool when a man knocked on the door. He wanted to know if he could launch a hot air balloon from the front yard.

Yeah, we thought we had heard it all before too, but that was really what he wanted to do….. Apparently the regular launch place wasn’t working out and they were looking for an open space on relatively high ground to unload the balloon from the trailer and get it up in the air. It turned our relaxing Sunday beside the pool into a wonderful, beautiful and unforgetable afternoon.

Hot air balloons were discovered in France in 1783 but they have come a long way since those early days of a fabric bag filled with hot air and now-a-days balloon pilots need to have a commercial pilot’s license. The basket on the balloon that we saw was beautiful – I didn’t get a chance to ask, but it looked as if it was hand made and stitched with leather. The balloon was initially filled with air from a fan and a couple of blasts of hot air from the burner heated the air enough to get the balloon inflated and up off the ground.

The pilot suggested I peek in one of the flaps at the top of the balloon – it reminds me of a stained glass window.

I was standing right next to the pilot when he turned on the burner. It was LOUD!

We were all so excited when the balloon lifted off the ground and started to fully inflate – the family taking a ride looked nervous but really anxious to start their adventure.

They were planning to fly to Woodbury, CT. It probably takes around 30 minutes to drive there from New Milford, they expected to fly there in under an hour. It didn’t seem like there was a breath of wind but apparently there was enough to send them on their way.

Lift off!

There was quite a gathering of neighbors – it’s not everyday a hot air balloon takes off from the front lawn. They waved and shouted good bye!

Tell me you are not thinking of the movie Up!  right now!!!!