Champagne For Breakfast

The balloon filling up for launch.

 A peek inside the balloon.

 Aloft over the Temecula Wine Country.

 The crew wrangling the balloon when we landed.

When the day begins at 4 am when the alarm goes off, it's a bit painful. But, the payoff was worth it. We hopped in the basket with California Dreamin' and floated over the Temecula Valley Wine Country. We'd had several days of "June Gloom," which is a thick marine layer that doesn't make for great images. Today, we awoke to a low fog and literally a mile from the house, the fog lifted and we had the bluest sky we'd had all week. Riding in a balloon and watching the sun rise from 3,000 feet with only the sound of awe from our group of 12 sucked all the words from our lips. Every now and then the pilot, Ferrel, sent a hot stream of flaming propane into the balloon to adjust for the cooler air of the higher altitude. There were several other balloons joining us this morning, so the sky looked spectacular with the punctuation of color. In the distance to the west,  a low mist enveloped the coast, but we could see several layers of mountains glowing under a cloudless sky to the east. A balloon ride is spectacularly unlike an airplane ride. Noiseless and effortlessly romantic, I was surrounded by all couples celebrating their anniversary or on their honeymoon. Then, there was me and Bill, the producer and cameraman. Not quite so romantic for us, but certainly equally jaw-dropping.  Enjoy the pics.