| rev:text
| - We had Captain Frank as our pilot. Well, it was pretty obvious early on that Captain Frank didn't really feel like being there and he was going to get our balloon ride over as quickly as possible. It was mentioned to us that we might get as high as 1,000 feet. Well, we were so low the majority of the time the balloon basket actually dragged across the tree tops. We were told that the wind currents up higher would've pushed us too far north. Well, the other pilots didn't seem to feel the same way because their balloons were sky high, many of them going through the hills. Finally, when it came time to land, we crashed and ended up sideways in the weeds. The brunch that followed was decent, although both of the picnic tables they brought with were broken, and the food didn't close to making up for the disappointment of balloon ride itself.
When everything was finally packed up and we made our way back to the Deer Valley airport, it became irritatingly obvious why our balloon ride was so bad: Captain Frank's truck was parked roughly 100 feet from where we landed. There were no problems with the wind that prevented him from taking us on a more enjoyable ride. He simply didn't want to be there and the ride he took us on was the quickest way to get the job over with and get him home as quickly as possible. And when we did get back on the road, the van got a flat tire.
I can safely say that if you do decide to take a balloon trip with these people, make sure you ask that Captain Frank is not the pilot of your balloon.
|