While on our vacation to Napa Valley, my girlfriend Lindsay surprised me with a hot air balloon ride. We woke up at 5:30am and drove about an hour through the dark mountains to Domaine Chandon to meet the group. It was an amazing ride and the highlight of the trip! We were fortunate to have an awesome pilot and small group in our basket. After about an hour and half of floating through the air, we touched down six miles from where we departed. Our pilot, Mike, said we had the best landing of the eight balloons that took off. Afterward, we drove back to the winery and enjoyed some delicious breakfast and mimosas. My girlfriend knows me so well! I hope this video gives you some sense of what it was like up there. According to MIke, our flight reached a maximum altitude of 2,457 feet and top ground speed was 12.8 mph averaging 5.2 mph. In total, our flight track covered 7.36 miles in 1 hour and 24 minutes.
Mike Eakins, Pilot www.napavalleyballoons.com
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