I know you’re going to be jealous, but I got to do something I’d never done before today: I got to ride in a hot air balloon.

The ride was, of course, at the QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning and was courtesy of pilot Vinny Panico at Vantage Point Ballooning of Readington. There was a lot of fog early, but we hung in there and got to go up around 9 a.m.

The experience was pretty awesome, I must say. It feels like you’re just floating on air, probably because you ARE floating on air. It’s pretty exhilarating taking in the view from above the festival and looking at the other balloons that were aloft from an even vantage point. It was a rather short ride, since the fog had pushed back the launch time, and we didn’t wind up in anybody’s back yard, but it was quite a thrill.

Thanks again to Vinny, his 1991 Aerostar Rally RX-7 balloon "Incognito," and Vantage Point Ballooning for the ride!

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