Megan Says “Yes” to Kevin’s Marriage Proposal!

May 23rd, 2009 | 0 Comments | Uncategorized |

Kevin (Midlothian, VA) had been planning this day for a long time, and was hoping the weather would be just right for what he was about to do. The weather had to be perfect because Kevin wanted to take his girlfriend Megan (Midlothian, VA) up in a hot air balloon to propose. For the last 10 days he watched the forecast and today it looked like a pretty good day. As it turned out, Kevin was absolutely right. The forecast was calling for partly cloudy skies, light winds from the southwest, and an early morning temperature around 60°F. Somehow Kevin convinced Megan to get up extremely early this morning (around 5:00 AM) in order to be at a designated meeting spot to meet with the Forest Winds hot air balloon team by 6:00 AM. Megan thought she was going on some early morning outing. She had no idea Kevin had planned a hot air balloon ride!

Just before 7:00 AM, The Pride of Forest came to life and Kevin and Megan climbed aboard.

Ready for takeoff!

The Pride of Forest

After completing some pre-flight checks, we were off. Kevin, Megan and Ken (Pilot) were airborne at 7:05 AM and heading northeast.

Looking good!

We slowly climbed out to a couple of hundred feet, and before long, we were cruising with the wind at about 20 mph.

The climb out

Kevin and Megan were really taken in by all the beautiful scenery. The world below was still pretty quiet, with the exception of the occasional barking dog, and the sun was just coming up over the horizon to the east.

Megan & Kevin

The Pride of Forest continued to climb to an altitude of about 2250′ MSL. Although there was a little bit of haze off in the distance, the visibility was absolutely spectacular.

Over Bedford County

Although Kevin was very nervous about what was about to come, he remained extremely patient….and waited for just the right moment. When The Pride of Forest reached its peak altitude for the flight, he slowly turned to Megan and got down on one knee. Megan could hardly believe what was happening!

Kevin’s proposal

Kevin looked upon Megan and opened his heart with words of love….sharing with her what she meant to his life. And then…..he asked, “Megan, will you marry me?”

She replied….”Yes, yes, yes…absolutely yes!” And with that, Kevin placed a beautiful engagement ring upon her finger. Megan then leaned over and embraced Kevin with a kiss.

The Kiss!

Before long, The Pride of Forest had made its way back to Forest and we were approaching Rt. 221 near Forest Plaza. After passing over the plaza, we began our descent with a slight pull of the vent. Our intent was to land in the field next to Benjamin’s (restaurant).

Thumbs up!

At precisely 8:10 AM we were back on the ground, sitting squarely and upright in Benjamin’s field. A perfect landing!

After the balloon was deflated and secured, we set up a little early morning celebration to commemorate the big event (i.e., Kevin and Megan’s engagement and a successful landing)!

The celebration!

Forest Winds says CONGRATULATIONS to Kevin and Megan on their engagement! We wish them always soft landings…..

For more pictures of Kevin and Megan’s flight, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/forestwindsinc/Kevin_and_Megan_Flight_52309#

 

A Flight Over Lynchburg to Remember!

May 5th, 2009 | 0 Comments | Uncategorized |

Don and Gail (Atlanta, GA) traveled to Lynchburg for a few days, and while they were here Don wanted to treat his wife to a memorable hot air balloon ride. So on Friday, April 24th, Don and Gail got up very early to meet the Forest Winds hot air balloon team for a ride across the skies of Lynchburg. After a quick assessment of the wind conditions, the team drove out to Madison Heights to conduct the inflation. After about 45 minutes and a textbook inflation, Don, Gail, Ken (Pilot) and “Ned Chase” (Co-Pilot) were ready for take-off in The Pride of Forest hot air balloon.

With light winds from the east, The Pride of Forest was gently lifted towards the clear blue skies. The visibility seemed perfect. Don and Gail waved “see ya later” to the Forest Winds ground crew below.

See ya later!

Slowly The Pride of Forest drifted westerly over Madison Heights towards the James River. In about 20 minutes, Lynchburg was clearly visible just off to the south.

Lynchburg, VA

Lynchburg was just starting to wake up below … kids going to school and folks on their way to work.

Smooth sailing!

At times the wind would drop off and The Pride of Forest seemed to just drift no faster than a slow walk. We steadily however continued to head slightly towards the northwest. After about an hour in the air, the AREVA NP Inc. Old Forest Road office was directly beneath. Ken thought about landing in AREVA’s recreational field, but Don convinced the crew to fly on….so we did.

AREVA NP Inc.

It took about another 20 minutes to find a suitable landing spot, but as luck would have it, we ended up in a fenced-in pasture. We were fortunate enogh however to have a friendly neighbor at home to come out and help us with the gate. We later found out though that the pasture was the home of a fairly “mean” bull. We never did see the bull, but it certainly gave us a good enough reason to hasten our pack-up!

Don & Gail

Forest Winds would like to wish Don & Gail many more soft landings in the future. We loved having them aboard!

For more pictures of Don & Gail’s flight, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/forestwindsinc/Don_and_Gail_Flight_42409#