Happy Anniversary!!! 10 years!!!!

Ben and I decided to plan a little trip for our 10 year anniversary.  There has been so much going on lately (I'll try to post a little of that soon) that it kept getting pushed off and pushed off and ended up being a little last minute vacation that I planned (by choice) completely on my own.  He had no idea what we were doing or where we were going until the moment we were doing it.

The night before our adventure was to begin I told him to pack a bag for 4 days and we needed to get up at 4 am.  Apparently I have a reputation for fibbing about surprises to lead the recipient astray, so Ben assumed the 4 am timeline was a lie and didn't end up going to bed until 12:00 am. :)

The next morning at the crack of dawn I told him to grab his suitcase, I set the GPS, and told him to drive.

We drove to Park City and pulled up into the Best Western hotel parking lot.  We just sat there.  Ben is looking at me like I'm crazy.  I just smiled and we waited. Soon a truck pulls up with a trailer carrying the obvious basket to a hot air balloon and Ben looks at me...nervous. I'm so excited, and after it sinks in what we're doing Ben gets over his nerves and is loving every minute of it.  We follow Will (the Austrian pilot) and Dave (the chaser car) out to a secluded parking lot to set up the balloon.  Will says he likes to get us involved in the setting up and breaking down, which means less work for him and more fun for us.  It was really hands on and we loved it.

The ride was so smooth. It was barely noticeable that we were leaving the ground. The highest we got was 3,200 ft and only went about 10 miles an hour when the winds picked up.  Will talked to us about how he gauges the wind patterns, but admits it's always a mystery as to where you'll land.  There were 6 other balloons flying with us that day which added to the view.

And when it was over we had a toast to another safe landing.

After a few hours having lunch and shopping in park city we headed off to the airport.  Ben had an idea we were flying somewhere, but it wasn't until we printed the boarding passes that he knew where we were going.

 San Jose, California.... Okay, but what are we going to do there???

After unpacking in our hotel in San Jose we headed out for dinner. We were referred to an Ethiopian restaurant. We were looking for an adventure, and it was. We had never had Ethiopian food before and it was crazy.  It was served "family style" on one big platter with a strange "bread" that was as large as the plate and can only be described as having the texture of a shoe insole.  It was served cold and you used it more as your silverware really.   You would rip off a piece and use it to scoop up your meal which was similar to a curry. Neither of us really cared for it, but it was a fun experience anyway.

To be continued...