High in the Skies in Perris Valley

A few years ago, I surprised a friend with a 3,000 feet high hot air balloon flight! At first I told him it was Sky Diving which basically freaked him out but he was a bit more relieved to find out it was just hot air ballooning. Muahaha... 

Anyways, I found a groupon deal for Hot Air Ballooning in Perris Valley and Temecula. I'm pretty sure the groupon deals are available year-round so it's a pretty good date idea!

If you decide to go during a dry season, don't expect to see much green. I know for sure we mostly saw dessert plains but it was still beautiful to watch the sunrise 3,000 feet closer to the heavens. 

We were supposed to embark on this Hot Air Ballooning journey in April but because of weather issues, we had to keep postponing until around the beginning of June. Since we could only do Fridays, our reservation kept being postponed and delayed since unfortunately every one of those Fridays in between had horrible weather. It was either too windy, not windy enough, or too cloudy. But, I'm glad to know that they only fly when it's basically a guaranteed safe morning with perfect weather. I wouldn't want our safety to be compromised just because of our impatience and the postponing issues. Especially after the horror story of the recent Hot Air Balloon crash in Virginia where the pilot crashed into the electricity wires. 

Finally, some Friday in June, We got outta bed and headed to Perris Valley Airport. We left at around 3:30am and arrived at around 4:45am. We basically had a lot of time before the meet-up time. I have to admit though, since it was my first time ever driving to that area, I was pretty scared! When we arrived we saw a pretty small sign that said Adventure Flights or something like that. We were greeted by two older white guys; one was the pilot and the other was a pilot in training. They were both very funny and offered us complimentary donuts and coffee and juice. About 8 other people arrived and we all rode in an SUV to the Hot Air Ballooning site. More people were there to set up the balloon and it was pretty exciting to watch! I've only seen this happen one time in the 6th grade when my school was lucky enough to have a hot air balloon demonstration. All 10 of us climbed into the balloon and we went up UP AND AWAY! It was honestly pretty calm in my opinion. Flying up into the skies went very smoothly and slowly. Everything felt very safe and I was in awe at how toy-like everything on the ground became.

We were on the balloon for about 45 minutes. My friend was frightened at first but he got used to it. I, on the other hand, was loving the adrenaline rush! We filmed a small "movie" with one of the other passenger's iPhone. I wish I got in contact with her to get the video because it was just soooooo cute! Everyone else on board was a bf-gf couple and they were all really nice and funny. There were even SNAKES on the balloon! Just kidding! The pilot keeps toy snakes on the basket to probably entertain the kids. But, it also entertained us too! The people made it fun and the pilot made it even more fun. It's truly a memory I can't forget!

Afterwards, we received certificates on our achievements. We have all become official aeronauts! As part of the deal, we all got brunch vouchers to use at the nearby restaurant. We tried the breakfast burritos and they were not bad at all!

Overall, I recommend Hot Air Ballooning if you want a fun and unique date / hangout or just if you just want to fly high into the skies without being caged (like inside an airplane).

USUAL MEET-UP TIME:

5:30 AM

ADDRESS:

2091 Goetz Road, Perris, CA 92570

OFFICIAL WEBSITE LINK:

http://www.adventureflights.com/balloons-perris.html

Here is the link to the Groupon deal:

https://www.groupon.com/deals/skyline-balloons-san-diego-1

It cost around $130 for one person or $250 for two people.

Here are some notes and tips!

1. It is gonna get hot! It is a hot air balloon ride after all...
• So I recommend that you bring a light jacket if you want! At least you'll need it to stay warm in the cold morning
2. It is SAFE! The pilot that we got was very experienced! He has been flying for almost all of his life! We had a discussion with him after the flight and discovered that he is super knowledgeable about airplanes, hot air balloons, flights, anything about being in the air in general!
3. You'll probably be going with a max group of 12 people total
• It will GET personal in there! You and everyone else are basically squeezed together in one small balloon basket!
4. Bring a camera, but you don't need a DSLR. A phone camera will suffice! TAKE SELFIES! ASK THE PILOT TO TAKE YOUR PHOTO! 
5. It's something I recommend anyone to do at least once! 
6. It is very calm up there so honestly, it's not that exciting in terms of unpredictable-ness. You are gonna be flying up very safely and slowly and just basically be floating up in the sky.