At 5:45 a.m., Sunday, my daughter, Stefanie Gonzalez, and I headed to the Mitchell Airfield at Mitchell, Neb. We were scheduled for a hot air balloon ride with High Plains Hot Air Balloon Company with take-off at 6:15 a.m. In the dim morning light, we could see the wicker turned on its side. The crew was unfolding the 120-foot nylon balloon on the grass. It made the basket we were going to crawl into look terribly small.

Joining us was a couple from Moore, Okla. The wife was a traveling nurse who was working for a few months in Scottsbluff. Her husband was retired military. They had scheduled a balloon ride earlier in the month, but fog had grounded that trip. Today they would experience the adventure with my daughter and me.

We met our pilot and crew chief, Mike and Colleen Johnson, a husband and wife team. Colleen has been hot air ballooning most of her life. She was raised in Albuquerque, N.M. and experienced the first years of the famous Albuquerque Balloon Festival, which will hold its 50th fiesta this October. When the couple married, they started traveling to various states for balloon rallies. After Colleen earned her commercial pilot's license, she trained Mike to be a hot air balloon pilot. Together they own and operate High Plains Hot Air Balloon Company. For our balloon ride, Mike was the pilot and Colleen was the chaser on the ground looking for the best place we could land when it was known what direction the wind would take us.

Mike had the four of us gather around him as he held up an ordinary red balloon. He tied it off and let it go into the sky. That showed him the direction the wind would probably take us when we set sail. It looked like we might fly over the Scotts Bluff heading southeast. However, he said in a hot air balloon, a pilot could only control up or down for the balloon. The direction was up to the wind.

The balloon was tethered to a pickup for safety. Once the balloon was ready, we were given instructions as to what we were to do when the balloon and basket were upright. Large fans were started with a generator to blow air into the envelope. We watched as the huge mass of brightly colored nylon material slowly began to rise. When Mike told us it was our turn to help, we all found a position at the top edge of the basket and held it down until the basket was stable. One at a time we climbed into the small basket with the three cylinders of propane the basket carried for fuel. I managed to get into the basket without falling. Short legs can be a disadvantage at times! The five of us found our place. Mike then gave us instructions for how to position ourselves for landing. He said we might or may not have a soft landing because of the wind speed. Mike started sending puffs of fire into the envelope and we gradually started to lift. When we were just off the ground, Mike told Colleen to untether us. We ever so gently began our adventure upward drifting to the east. Up! Up! And Away!

The sun was just starting to rise. It was breathtaking. All was silent except for the puffs of fire that kept the balloon filled with hot air and afloat. We heard dogs barking in the yards below us, geese honking, trucks barreling down the highway and our own sighs of the beauty below us. The North Platte River snaked along the valley below. We heard its rapids as they churned down stream. Instead of traveling southeast, we drifted more to the northeast. Every now and then, Colleen would radio Mike asking what direction we were headed so she knew where to look for a landing spot. She would also keep him informed of the wind speed at ground level.

As we took in the beauty of the landscape, we saw deer running from us. They would look up and keep running in the same direction we were drifting. Eventually they ran into trees along the river. Dogs would look to the sky and start barking wildly while running back and forth in yards. Horses would hear us, look up and start to prance around. Mike said he tried not to blow fire when horses were below us because the balloon frightened them and they would start running. And then there was our shadow drifting along the landscape. How fascinating to realize that was us!

Forty-five minutes into our flight, we were headed toward the Scottsbluff airport. Colleen radioed Mike a plan for landing. He could see where we would probably land and told us to get into position. All of us had hold of the basket handles and were in a crouching position facing the west. It seemed like it took forever! My legs were screaming to stand up!

And then it happened! We hit the ground, the basket tipped backwards and we were dragged 50 feet across the grass and dirt before coming to a stop. Mike told us we could let go. I was afraid to because I knew I would land on the poor guy behind me. We all finally let go and were in a jumbled mess on the side of the basket. Mike was the first to hop out and asked if any of us needed help. I felt like a beetle on its back. Finally I was able to turn over and crawl out so other passengers could do the same. We were all okay and laughing! What a ride! Mike said our landing was a little rough. Wind speed at the ground was nine miles an hour, which contributed to the landing.

Two women from a nearby airplane hangar came to across the field to greet us. They were flight nurses with the hospital who were in their office when they saw us land. One had taken a balloon ride a few weeks previously. She was happy to celebrate with us on our successful ride. We thought we had all the bases covered if we had a bad landing with three nurses at the landing and a mortician on board! (My daughter is a funeral director.)

Colleen and three of her crew members came to milk the balloon (remove the air), fold and pack it up for the next flight. It took all of 20 minutes to get it into a 4 X 4 soft-sided cube. Then the basket was placed on the trailer with it. Mike, Colleen and the four of us rode back to the Mitchell Airfield. Our balloon ride took us about 12 miles and used about 30 gallons of the 45 gallons of propane we had on board the balloon.

When we were back to the airfield, Mike took out a bottle of champaign and popped the cork. Tradition has it if someone catches the cork; the next hot air balloon flight will have an easy landing. No such luck. The sun was bright and no one caught it. Besides we didn't want the next group to miss out on a fun landing like we had!

Mike and Colleen treated us to breakfast, champaign and hot air balloon stories. Before leaving we each received a certificate of our adventure and a hot air balloon lapel pin to remind us of our adventure. I don't think I will ever need reminded. I have some great new friends and a cherished memory with my daughter that will last forever!