We got up at 3:45 to be at the Cave Creek Safeway at 4:45. There the balloon crew in a van with a large trailer and 2 large passenger vans were waiting, then checking the wind direction. At 5am we left and went W on Carefree Highway, checked the wind at 32nd St., then went a bit further to 16th St.. There as the sun came up the crew started to assemble the balloon and blow air into it. There were 3 more balloons assembling in the vicinity. The Czech made balloon is one of the largest in North America. The huge basket held the 20 people and the pilot. We enjoyed the flight very much, the weather was perfect cool with an average 5mph wind. We were in our own compartment where we could talk to the pilot, Randy Long. We were never very high (mostly about 800ft high) and I wish Randy would have gone up a few thousand feet to get a feeling of height. The gas burners were not loud and did not emit much heat because of the heat shields. We glided over the desert, some hills, houses - the largest animal we saw was a coyote. After about 40 minutes and 4.5 miles (flying in a WSW direction) we landed early because of the near I-17. After a kneeling champagne ceremony we had a sweet breakfast on tables with white tablecloths. - We had a great time, it was a beautiful experience!