On a wine-themed reunion weekend with my partner and his former college classmates, I was excited to see that a hot-air balloon ride (something high on my "bucket list") was on our agenda. For my partner, not so much. But I told him we WERE doing the balloon ride; and that was that. :) Fast forward to the last day of our weekend trip (which was wonderful!), and us getting up early to board the bus to the Chandon Estate for our adventure. We were all excited and nervous - only 3 of our group of 12 having ever been in a hot air balloon. Little did we know that we would fall in love with the experience - and our pilot- the second we left the ground. My partner, who didn't want to go in the first place, just giggled like a child on Christmas morning. We were all breathless as we floated peacefully into the skies above the beautiful Napa Valley. If we closed our eyes, we wouldn't have even known we were afloat. The silence and serenity was moving. Seeing the same places we had visited all weekend long in this way was so impactful, so much more beautiful - we were so much more "at one" with our surroundings and so much more appreciative of the beauty laid out before us. We were "changed". Add to this the expertise, friendliness and kindheartedness of our pilot, Ken Custis. He made us all feel so safe and comfortable. He educated us about this beautiful valley, where he grew up, pointing out all the wonders below us. He pointed out the rivers, the bay, the skyline of San Francisco in the distance. He told us about his high school (and the rival school), about his childhood in Napa. He described everything he was doing with the balloon - how it worked, where we were headed, how multiple balloons in the air at the same time determined right-of-way and communicated with each other, etc. He was amazing. He brought us down to earth at the end of our journey with ease and skill. Though we all braced ourselves and expected a major "jolt", Ken literally floated us down to earth like a cloud. As we descended and were faced with a train track on one side and the deep depression of a dried-up water reservoir on the other, Ken nailed the landing on the reservoir's narrow levy - barely wider than the balloon's basket. And the Napa Valley Balloons ground crew was already approaching us to assist in guiding us to a grassy field as we touched down in perfect balance. All of us in that basket knew we had just shared, together, one of the most amazing experiences of our lives. We were "connected" by it, forever. Nearly a month later, I still revisit the experience in my mind and in photos...and it still makes me feel like I'm on Cloud 9.