We’re still recounting our summer adventures. If you missed it, check out this free camping at Spencer hot springs in Nevada! And if you’d like to see more of our Utah adventures, check out these posts.

In June Calder and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a hot air balloon ride! Check out this post for a snapshot of our wedding day.

How did we decide to celebrate with a hot air balloon ride? I think you meant to say, “why not celebrate with a hot air balloon ride?!”

A Hot Air Balloon Ride?!

We wanted to do something special to commemorate this anniversary, and we knew that we wanted to include the boys. We already had a lot of fun summer plans in the works and international travel still felt a bit uncertain, so we quickly decided that we didn’t need another trip on the calendar. Instead, we wanted to do something that felt both special and epic, but that was relatively easy to execute. Early in the planning, we jokingly tossed around the idea of a hot air balloon ride, especially because the boys read 21 Balloons for school last year (field trip!). And we kept coming back to the idea until one day it finally stuck that this is what we really wanted to do!

There’s no denying it, a hot air balloon ride is expensive. Multiply that by four, and we were definitely splurging. But for us, the cost was worth this special experience and the cherished memories we’d create for our 10th anniversary.

Quick tip: If you’re planning a big splurge like this, do it far enough in advance so that you can get that extra joy from the anticipation of your adventure. If you were around us for the weeks leading up to our ride, you couldn’t help but notice our excitement (I’m sure it had nothing to do with us talking about it non-stop. so sorry)

We’re lucky that there were a number of different companies and locations to choose from. We narrowed our search to a few places where we knew we’d be this summer: home in Boulder, sometimes in Steamboat, and passing through Moab.

Canyonlands Ballooning

In the end, we thought that a hot air balloon ride in Moab would make for the most epic memories. There are two different companies that offer rides in Moab, and we ended up going with Canyonlands Ballooning.

Canyonlands Balloooning was the first hot air balloon company to operate in Moab. Lou, the owner and pilot, has been flying in Moab for over a dozen years. He was super mellow and friendly throughout the entire experience, from blowing up and launching the balloon, to our gentle float over the desert, to the most exciting landing we could have hoped for.

Along with Lou, there is a great support crew that covers transportation to and from the launch and landing sites.

Our Ballooning Experience

I wanted to title this section “A Typical Ballooning Experience”, but acknowledging that this was my first ride, I really don’t know what I’m talking about. Here’s what our day was like:

• We woke up and met the ground crew before sunrise. It was a surprisingly breezy morning, which made a few of us (ME!) nervous. The crew helped to alleviate our worries, while we waited to hear where we’d meet the balloon. They have a number of different launch sites in the area and pick the day’s site based upon weather conditions.
• There were 16 passengers going on our ride. It sounds like a lot, but the balloon basket is large and split into five compartments (the central compartment is for the pilot and balloon equipment). Once everyone arrived, we hopped in a couple of vans for our ride to the launch location.
• At the launch location, the balloon was laid out and ready for filling. This was an exciting moment. We went around the group for introductions, and then we stood back in awe as the balloon was filled. This was a great time for photos!
• Once the balloon was mostly full, everyone climbed into the basket (four people per section). Being a family of four, we had one section to ourselves. Some baskets have a door, but the type of basket we were in required climbing over the sides. It was easy to do for the adults and kids in our group, but something to keep in mind if you have physical limitations.
• Once everyone was in, more hot air was blown into the balloon, the ground crew released the ropes holding us in place, and we gently floated away.
• The experience of floating was so peaceful. You’re moving with the wind, so you don’t feel the wind blowing. Everything feels completely calm. As hot air is blown into the balloon, you gently rise. When the hot air is off, you’re just floating and descending slowly.
• With 16 people on the balloon, there was a bit of chatter, but it was the nice sound of everyone being excited and in awe. When we were reminiscing on the day, we agreed that being on the ride with 12 other people didn’t feel crowded in impersonal. The shared experience creates such a nice bond between you and your fellow passengers.
• From up high we had great views of the far-off mountains and glimpses of Arches National Park. Admittedly, we thought that when booking a flight in Moab we have an even more epic view of the canyons and arches, but as you might expect, flying a balloon in that sort of terrain is dangerous. Our flight took us over some of the flatter land in the region.
• We did get amazing views of dried up creek beds. We saw a pronghorn, a coyote, and plenty of creature footprints.
• As our flight was nearing its end, we could see the vans on dirt roads following the balloon, and we could hear communication between the pilot and the drivers as he directed them to where he expected to land.
• As we were getting ready to land, Lou explained the position that we should get in. Basically crouched on the floor of the basket with our backs against one side and our feet braced against the other. Calder and I each held a kid to keep them safe. The basket touched down, then bounced once or twice before falling over on its side and dragging us to a bumpy stop. I’m not sure what I expected, but that was bonkers!
• Once we landed, the crew set up a champagne toast with sparkling cider for kids and anyone who didn’t want the bubbly. This was a nice time to celebrate the successful ride and chat with other passengers. Then we hopped in the vans and they drove us back to the campground.

Ballooning with Kids

Before we took off, we were a bit uncertain about how it would be flying with kids. I was nervous that I might be constantly worried about them falling out of the balloon or that they wouldn’t have any fun because they couldn’t see or were hungry. You know, all of those pesky things that you think about once you have kids. Luckily, none of that was a problem.

The balloon sides were high enough that it felt “secure”. Even adults couldn’t just lean over and fall out. The ladder for climbing into the balloon is made by weaving holes in the side of the basket. Those turned out to be perfect for our kids in a couple of ways. Sometimes they stood on the lowest hole and then they were just high enough to see over the edges without falling out. Other times they sat on the basket’s bottom and looked out through the hole. Both options were great for giving them a view without us having to hold them.

They did get a little bit hungry and restless near the end of the ride, but it definitely wasn’t a big deal, and we packed a few granola bars for that situation.

All in all, they loved it just as much as we did. And they didn’t fall out!

Archview Campground

We’ve driven through Moab a number of times on our annual CO -> CA summer road trip, so it was nice to plan something new in familiar territory. We were particularly excited to go with Canyonlands Ballooning because they pickup that day’s passengers at the Archview Campground just north of Moab! Since we planned on camping anyway, it was the ideal situation to reserve a site at the campground knowing that we’d easily make the pre-dawn meeting. The other option was to camp at one of our reliable BLM spots just a few miles further north.

Archview is a typical side-of-the-highway campground. It was easy enough to arrive late at night and pull into our reserved space. We had reserved a tent site since we didn’t need any of the typical RV hook-ups (electricity, water, sewer). Unfortunately, even though we didn’t need it, we had to set up a tent. This wasn’t a big deal, but it’s good to know if you’re traveling the same way – keeping a simple tent or tarp in your van can be useful.

The campground has a camp store, which I was absurdly excited about when we realized that we forgot our coffee and were low on instant (WTF?!?). Unfortunately, the camp store seemed to be understaffed, and it opened so late in the morning, that we were already off and on an adventure before I could get a cuppa.

The campground also has a beautiful pool and splash pad. Unfortunately, when we arrived on Thursday evening, the pool had just been drained and was not refilled until Saturday afternoon. I think this was a random fluke, but it was definitely a bummer because we were counting on the pool as being one of the perks of staying in a campground… the upside of the closed pool is that it sent us off on am impromptu swimming hole adventure. There will be more about that amazingness in an upcoming post!

So, in the end, staying in the campground was definitely worth it for making our early-morning balloon adventure, but otherwise, the campground itself was a bit of a let-down.