I was excited to go on a hot air balloon ride with my child. We met at Starbucks. There was another couple riding with us. I noticed that they were following behind another company that I did not choose because they were more expensive. One of the guys even mentioned that if the other company flies, they are going to fly. We were in a field where the balloons were being filled which was a beautiful experience. The aerostat began to tell us that there were three types of landing. One landing is when the balloon lands safely with basket upright. The second type of landing is when the balloon basket bounces several times on the ground but is upright. The third type of landing is when the balloon lands on its side and drags until it stops. I should have listened to my mind and not go when he mentioned the third type of landing. Warning 3- While in the air, it was beautiful and he showed us how to make a paper airplane that would fly while in the sky. We saw wild boars. I felt safe until he mentioned he missed descending (I’m not sure if I have the terminology correct), I realized he missed something important for landing. I was just hoping for a safe landing. In a distance I could see the other company safely landing their hot air balloons. Our aerostat began trying to find an area on the ground for us to land since we missed his original plan to land, He was talking to a guy on the ground through phone, he began to reposition us and told us to hold on tight. We all had to embrace ourselves for landing. We landed on the side and the balloon dragged us about 100 yards. We all were holding on for dear life. The aerostat was calm. My child was screaming like he was on a roller coaster ride. We landed literally in the middle of a desert. We had to get prickly thorns off our hair, skin and clothing. My son loved the landing but the adult riders were just happy to be on the ground. I’m happy that the aerostat knew what to do with a rough landing. He missed his wind turn or whatever they call it, which caused us to land sideways. I think he thought the landing was exciting too like my son. We celebrated with champagne,
