Balloon Voyage!

Last weekend we got to ride a giant helium balloon at Conner Prarie! They have an exhibit there where you can experience somethig like a balloon voyage from 1859. (Conner Prairie is a living history museum similar to Colonial Williamsburg except set in the 1800s, for those who aren't from around these parts!)

I couldn't resist this cute photo-op of my boys!



















While we were waiting our turn we tried out the various experiments they had to explain how balloons work. Here are Daddy and Andrew having a race to see whose balloon will fill up first.




















Then it was our turn to board! Here is the gondola, made especially for this exhibit...
















More photo-ops with the boys...

















Here is what the balloon looks like underneath. It is not a hot air balloon but is filled with helium so it is almost perfectly round.















All the ropes that surround the balloon come down and are secured to the tether line and a motorized wench in the hollow middle of the gondola.
















The gondola has a walkway all the way around so you get to see 360 degrees when you get up in the air.















Here is a view of the parking lot from about half way up. I have to say that I didn't realize how high we were going to go and it freaked me out a bit! When we were landing the wind was catching the balloon and causing us to swing about 30 yards back and forth. Both Nick and I were a bit motion sick during the landing--balloons always look so floaty and peaceful but in fact it was quite violent!















Here is a picture I took from the parking lot of the balloon about half way up so you can see what it looks like from the ground:



















And here is the view from all the way at the top. It was so neat to see everything up high like that! The boys thought it was so cool and kept telling us to look at the "doghouses" which were really the houses at Conner Prairie that just looked small! For fellow Hamilton County residents, you can see White River running through the middle of this picture. So fun to experience this with my family!!!