Memorial Day

We had a special Memorial Day. We had been trying to go on a hot air balloon ride while Tim and Lily were both here since neither of them have been on a ride before. We had issues with weather and then scheduling changes between Tim and Lily. We got up very early so we could meet the pilot and his son at 0530. We hopped in their chase vehicle and rode with them where they released helium balloons in strategic locations so see how the weather and winds were acting. That being said, the winds were so still that we nearly landed right where we took off. The pilot, Casey, went much higher and we were able to catch some winds higher up that allowed us to move some. I want to explain a few of the photos….that IS a zebra. We landed near a farm in Whitefish that we knew had a buffalo and a zebra along with their horses. The zebra was not fond of the whooshing sound of the flames giving us lift (so we didn’t land in the pasture with the zebra). The zebra ended up going under the white fence and joining the horses (you can see the white fencing where the lower rail is missing. I think it allows the zebra to get away from the horses when he/she wants to. Lily got an awesome photo of the zebra going under the fence. Lily also got told about the history of hot air ballooning. We chose sparking pear cider instead of champagne. We all had a toast and Casey had Lily try and drink from a kneeling position after the toast. He “baptized” her with water as she attempted to drink her cider. It was pretty funny. We enjoyed the beautiful sunrise over the Flathead Valley. Lily then flew out to head back to her place in Kansas City. It was great having her here. Rich and I spent some time on our wooden glider seat out by Joe’s memorial tree. The weather was beautiful. We started the day seeing our breath at about 40 degrees and ended it at 85! Welcome to late spring in Montana….huge temperature swings. Enjoy the photos!