Up, Up, and Away….

I know you are breathlessly awaiting the continuing story of our Labor Day adventures.

It has been cold and rainy today (65 degrees or less), and as we all know, nothing puts me in a writing mood more than a good old rainy day! And so, even though it’s been a tough few weeks at work, I find so much solace, comfort, and joy in our little home on a rainy night, and even more so in our little family. It was 15 years ago tonight that Ryan called me up in my dorm room and asked me to go on a walk to “discuss a book.” That was only the beginning of something wonderful. :-)

So the trip to the Royal Gorge was quite exhausting, especially since we had gotten up so early at 4 a.m. on Saturday. Plus, there’s just a lot of hilly walking at the Royal Gorge, and since we’re not really what you would call “in shape,” we were really physically tired when we got home that evening. The Balloon Classic was supposed to take place Sunday and Monday mornings as well, weather depending, and we still really wanted to make it work since we had looked forward to it for so long! But when we went to bed Saturday night, I didn’t have high hopes for convincing the fam to take yet another sunrise trek to the Springs.

But we did it. We were up at 4, and after checking all the weather reports this time, we decided to buzz down and try it again. And I am so glad we did….

The first balloon at the Colorado Balloon Classic in Colorado Springs….

We made an interesting choice, and I feel like if we ever attend this event again, we might do it differently. Because we had read online that the best photographic opportunities are across the lake from the launch, we decided to set up camp there. So though we saw some beautiful scenery (and missed traffic, crowds, etc.), we missed out on actually witnessing any of the balloon lift-offs up close. I don’t regret our decision, but I think I do want to try the other experience too sometime. :-)

But it was just so peaceful sitting there, watching balloons slowly lift into the sky….

Boring? Probably, to some.  But we all enjoyed it thoroughly.

They just kept coming and coming and coming. Just when we thought they were about done, more would appear on the horizon.

Can you guess which balloon in the picture below was Ryley’s favorite?

I know all these pictures look the same, but they’re just so pretty!!!! :-)

So around 8:30, it seemed that the balloons were all gone – probably 40-50 in all. We lost count after awhile. So we packed up, headed out, and decided to go find some breakfast. But unbeknownst to us, the fun wasn’t yet over!!!

We were probably 10 miles down the interstate when we saw several balloons headed for landing in the area. One was particularly close to us, so we pulled off the highway to see if we could watch.

It flew right over our car, and I jumped out to take some pictures.

We drove to the next intersection, flipped a U, and pulled into the parking lot of a hotel and McDonalds just as it was landing.

It was so exciting!!!

What a way to end our hot air balloon experience! :-)

After grabbing breakfast, we decided to also stop by the Garden of the Gods since it had been awhile. We felt like we’d been there fairly recently, but when we did the math, we decided it had already been four years, and Ryley had no memory of it.

I think Ryley had envisioned an actual garden, so I’m not sure of her level of disappointment.

(One of Ryan’s creations with his phone’s panoramic app):

But she seemed to really get into it, and since we had let her use her own camera all morning to take pictures of the balloons too, she really got into that!

God’s beautiful creation!!!

It was a great little day-trip, and get this: we were home and back in bed by 11 a.m. for a much-needed nap!

The rest of the weekend was spent resting and recovering/prepping our house for yet another busy week. Oh, and we taught Ryley “The Game of Life.”

That was a huge hit!!

Thank you, my friends, for reading about our exciting weekend. :-) Sometimes the best fun to be had is when exploring your own state, and we know we are blessed to live in Colorado. Other than our coupon-assisted admission to the Royal Gorge Bridge, as well as the expense of a tank of gas, all of the things we enjoyed this weekend were free. That might be the best part of all!

Stay tuned, as I have been collecting Ryley Stories and more inconclusive thoughts about parenting. ;-)