[San Diego Trip 2011] Ballooning in Perris

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It sounded like Ballooning in Paris right? Well, we can all dream. But Perris or Paris, this was definitely one very picturesque adventure as you’ll probably see below. Burnt hair or not, a must try!

Leaving San Diego at 3am, we went to Perris to get a ride on a hot air balloon. Why? Coz for the heck of it. Who cared if it has to fly by dawn? We strive for adventure. Well, the driver mostly did. Driver drove, navigator navigated, the rest slept. (And we love you for that, R and I! Mwah mwah!)

We got there at 5am by a small airport. The sun wasn’t up yet but we had beautiful morning sky. Our guide and pilot arrived and so did the rest of our co-aeronauts (ehem). With the monster balloon still down, our guides did a little hookah-hookah dance and powwow to rise the beast (or not). Doesn’t hurt to have a few vanity shots while they’re at it.

Click to enlarge pictures and to see notes.
Inflating the BalloonWe have slained the balloon. This is our trophy shot!Almost full of hot air!

The balloon has devoured us!Balloon ready for take off!Hot air balloons eat hot air for breakfast. Nom nom nom...

Our dragon awake, we rise to the air. Woohoo! (Okay settle down, MeemaX).

Photography-wise, daybreak isn’t called the golden hour for nothing (other golden hour being sunset). The lights were soft making the landscape dreamy.

Daybreak, not even sunrise yetMorning viewMorning sunSnake river

Making our trip more exciting, we had warriors, I mean, skydivers jumping from our dragon.

SkydiversJump!Feeling the adrenaline during the fall

We also had a troll.

A troll got into the basket

Of course, with a colorful balloon, why miss the opportunity to take artsy-fartsy shots? The colors were truly vibrant in the morning light against the clear blue sky.

Artsy fartsy shotsBalloon going back to sleepThe insides of the balloon

And of course, arty-fartsy shots of the landscape with our dragon’s shadow. 🙂

Shadow with us being far from the groundBalloon shadow near the ground

After that, we landed (of course). Took more group shots (duh).

The group with the balloon's shadowWe landed safely!

Back at the airport, we watched more skydivers fall. I drank champagne (the boys drank apple cider) the aeronauts’ way. No hands!

Skydivers a-falling!Skydivers landing on the air strip. No need for airplanes.Taxi-ing without a plane

Drinking the aeronauts wayDon't need no hands to get wasted

The trip was good, so worth the drive (I know, I know we just slept. Thanks again to R and I. Hihihi.). We experienced a fresh bird’s eye view of the world, 4000 feet up in the air. Fresh air, fresh sight, fresh new experience. And everything was done by 9am! Woohoo! More time to burn for travelling. 😀

Note: If you plan to go hot air ballooning, bring a cap or any hat. Our scalp and neck area were so hot that it actually took some joy off the experience. But we still we had no regrets. Imagine if we wore hats, reviews would be raving.

With R sleeping at the back, we drove back to San Diego for more fun. Watch out for the next post. 🙂

(Pictures from my camera, R’s camera and W’s iPhone.)

Previous stop: Sunset Cliffs
Next stop: Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
Trip summary: San Diego Trip
Complete photo album: San Diego 2011 (updating while on this series run)

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