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Hello Everyone
On March 29, 2008 Rhonda and I were married in a unconventional place. I wanted a drive-thru ceremony - no muss, no fuss ! But Rhonda, being the loving person she is said No and only hit me a few times, mostly only moderately hard. Rhonda then suggested (after getting a cast for my broken legs and arms) that we do a hot-air balloon ride.
Well, the rest is history and most of my broken bones have healed completely. I've included some pictures at the bottom of this entry.
March 29, 6:00am
We arrived to a parking lot where other riders and the pilots met to judge where to launch the balloons from. It seems that this company has multiple launching spots depending on the winds that day. We meet and we had to sign a waiver that basically amounts to no matter what happens at all, we won't sue anyone.
While other passengers shared a balloon, Rhonda and I paid for a private balloon ride where the pilot could perform the ceremony. Doug was a great pilot and told us a lot of things about what to expect.
March 29, 8:00 am or there abouts
We finally made it to our launching spot. There were balloons from other companies too. This was THE place to launch a hot-balloon that morning. Rhonda and I helped get the balloon inflated by the use of a large fan to force air into the empty balloon. We were told we're not to say "Blow the balloon up!" ... apparently, blowing things up is a real "downer" with them :)
I won't say how but I ended up in the much-less windy spot -- OH DARN !! lol
Once the balloon gets enough air, the ground-crew man lights the burners and shoots flames into the balloon. It was very soon thereafter the balloon was upright. I was going to take a picture of the balloon prior to launch but as soon as the balloon was vertical, we were told to jump in the basket.
Now we're off ....
It was a wonderful day - just the way to marry a wonderful woman. The pilot (Doug) was telling us about lift and what we would be seeing. I'm used to being up high from my pilot lesson days. However, it didn't take long for Ken to mention that I could let go of the brace going above my head. I said something about "I'm good, I'm good ...". Of course, Rhonda is over there being very non-challant and looking around everywhere while I'm thinking how did she talk me into this!
But really, I was fine after a couple minutes. I ran some quick scenarios through my head soon realizing that if I fell, I wouldn't feel much pain for very long. I did cover my bases and had a goodbye prayer prepared in my head incase of a sudden trip to Earth :)
Pictures ...
I took lots and lots of pictures. I bought a new lens and wanted to test it. We saw a beautiful sunrise from about 1000 feet. We saw houses, swamps, and something kind of fun ... for us, not the the driver of what we saw. It seems that someone was 4-wheeling in the dark and found themselves up to the hood in a large pit of mud. That had to be embarressing ! Near the truck we saw a small tent and several campers and I just bet that they were the ones stuck.
Doug brought us down the the height of the trees so we got to touch the very topmost branches of several trees. I even pulled a couple of leaves off wondering how many people get to say they were there.
I do ...
Doug brought us up to a steady altitude and told us it was time. Rhonda grabbed her flowers consisting of many flowers and included two tigerlillies. For those who don't know, Rhonda has a nickname on the Christian dating board (http://www.singlec.com/) where we met and that nickname is "Tiger Lilly". So I really wanted Tigerlillies in her wedding bouquet.
The vows were quick but not as quick as a drive-thru ceremony would have been but it was still good :) I got to kiss the bride (OH YEAHHHHH !!!!!!).
Landing ...
I think about 75 minutes after lauching, we landed. Of course, I was still up there on Cloud 9 knowing I married the best woman on the planet!
We were told how some landings are smooth and some are so rough, because of wind, that the basket may tip over and the balloon itself becomes more of a sail catching the wind. But on our day, the wind was calm and we landed almost perfectly. We had one or two bounces and the pilot "dropped" the balloon by quickly releasing all the air from it.
Perfect Flight
We had a perfect flight. The company we used was Thompson Aire http://www.thompsonaire.com/ and they were great. If you are in Orlando, Florida then really think about seeing things from a whole new perspective - 1000 feet up in the air
Eating ...
Once we all landed and the gear was stowed, we met at a steak place for a breakfast buffet. We got to sit around and chat about where each of us was from and our thoughts of the flight.
"The Rest of the Story" ....
There is a radio show that tells the compete story of something most people only know part of. Rhonda and I don't know the "Rest" of our story yet. What we do know is that God knows the rest of our story and we trust in Him. A lot of people spend lots of money to know their future - some by fortune tellers, some my the newspaper astrology reports, some by ... who knows ... but Rhonda and I know Who makes the days that we have left ... we know the One who loves us unconditionally and totally. We are simply told to make each day count and together we will !
God Bless
Tim and Rhonda Wells
