I was running out of ideas.. I could barely think of something cool in the days leading up to his birthday. A few friends called up and were excited to know what I was planning. I told them.. well we did that Vegas trip thingy.. and I think I am done. I even  baked a surprise cardamom-date cake. The fact was.. I had nothing.. nada.. zilch to do on his birthday.

Then I read somewhere (I think in the photog hobby group forum) about balloon rides. I was still iffy about the idea. You see, I was toying with 2 ideas – the balloon ride Vs 9 course dinner with some awesome wine pairing @ Herbfarm.  Seeing the plummeting reputation of Herbfarm, I decided against it.  However, things changed the morning of the big day. I called up this company that offered hot air balloon rides and enquired if they have anything for the night. They did! And I checked the weather too.. it was bright, deep blue! Yay!! So this is it. I made the reservation and hung up.  I was told to be at this winery near home by 5pm.

This is where my uber planning skills shine.  I persuaded the hubby to get out of work by 3pm. I picked him up from work and drove home. There is a river trail by our place and we always wanted to run on this piece of the trail that we haven’t been to before. I also told him I wanted to play frisbee. I quickly got a bag and snuck his hat, scarf (I was told it might get cold in the balloon) and topped it with the frisbee. So far so good. I got him to wear nice and light clothes, comfortable shoes (because I wanted to take photos and he should look good, of course) We set out.

I headed out and drove towards the park.. instead of stopping at the entrance, I continued driving…to the winery. Narsi got a little suspicious at this point.. he was like, “What’s going on?” I told him that since he liked red wine so much I arranged a winery tour and a tasting event. He was over the top by now.. and was grinning left, right and center . I parked the car in the winery (we were 15 mins early)  I was looking around to construct the next phase of the surprise. I saw an estate up the hill and told him that we need to hike up. The darling that he is, started diligently walking upthe hill. I was constantly turning back and checking the parking lot to see if the balloon guys arrived. Not yet.

I was beginning to run out of trail now. We reached the estate on top of the hill, you see. A lady came out and seeing a lost look on my face she asked if we needed help. Narsi walked up to her and was about to ask something which is when I interrupted and said we are fine. She went inside.  And I remember right about now I started ROFLMAOing!! It was cutely hilarious. I checked the parking lot one more time and like a sweet sight to sore eyes, I spotted the balloon guys pull into the parking lot.  I told Narsi that the real surprise awaits us at the parking lot and walked back.

This is what he saw. He was confused, shocked and speechless. He thought it was a gigantic picnic basket. Yep, that’s my boy. Huge foodie.

The balloon guys team is comprised of 3 persons. One of them is the pilot and the other two are like ground control. Jim (GC guy#1) came up to us and presented a waiver. That’s when it dawned upon Narsi what this really was and he was S-H-O-C-K-E-D ! For like 10 mins he had a bewildered expression.

Usually, the team transports us to a “take off location”. But the weather and take-off conditions looked good to take off right from the parking lot. We walked up to a clearing and the paraphernalia were placed on the ground. A couple of volunteers (including Narsi) helped Bill, the pilot, getting the balloon up.

Filling air

Big …bigger.. bigggerrrr

Heating the air

He started the torch and there you go… a hot air balloon.  Bill briefed us about the various safety measures (there 3 couples going on the ride last night) and we got in to the basket one by one. 

Up ! Up !

Taking off..

Well what do you know.. this thing works. We started going up up up and up!! It was an exhilarating experience. Now let me tell about Narsi.. he gets excited about playing a free app. Like a silly app or some silly game can get him all jumpy and excited. And he is in this hot air balloon and he has like a smile. Just a smile. Oh, well! I think he was still digesting the fact that he is suspended mid-air. (and oh, he is still grinning)

We went up .. like a few thousand feet. We caught the most beautiful view of the Cascades, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker and the Puget Sound. We were drifting above a very affluent neighborhood (judging by the swimming pools, and the lavish tennis courts in each of the homes). After admiring the lavish homes, we drifted along to the beautiful Snohomish river. After sinking in more sights of the blue skies we were ready to devour the beautiful sunset.

Fellow balloon-riders:

Mt. Rainier with a golden blush.

And we finally landed! It was a fantastic experience!!! And the dude was still grinning!!!

To the person who makes my life worthwhile – Happpy Birthday, babe!!!!!!!!!

and there you go… A guide to surprising your loved one with a hot air balloon ride.

For more on Hurricane Ridge visit think link on Wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ridge

Now all the above sounds very entincing, so we decided to check out the place and its lavender festival. Because of the uniqueness in its climate, Sequim has a lush growth of lavender and it is well known for its lavender farms.

Every year in the month of July, these farms open up for visitors. There are tours and fairs organized by the local farms with buses transporting folks between the farms. The festival runs the entire weekend and is a must see, must experience. The entry fee for this weekend is 15$ a person and is money well spent. Although any other weekend would be a free visit to the farm the experience is not the same.

Another Sequim surprise worth mentioning is one of the local chinese restaurants, The Fortune Star. We read reviews that its one of the best and the reviewer couldnt believe the best chinese would be in this tiny town far away from the Greater Seattle area. The place did hold its reputation and yes the food was awesome. So do check out the restaurant as well.

For more info on the Lavender festival visit the official Sequim Lavender Festival site at http://www.lavenderfestival.com/

The trailhead is in the city of Goldbar which is on US-2. There are clear directions from US-2 to access this trailhead. The trail head has enough parking but is always full given the amount of traffic this trail gets all round the year. There are two ways of reaching the falls via the trail. One is the woody trail which is of moderate difficulty and is about 1.5 miles while the other is of railroad grade and adds about a mile to the woody trail. Both are accessible from the trail head.

The trail head is directly under Puget Sound Energy (PSE) power lines. Once we get past the cackling noise of these lines, we reach the split for the two trails. These two meet again at the lower falls. The lower falls has a nice lunch spot for family hikers who usually bring a picnic basket upto the falls and spend time with their family. The middle falls is another half mile and the upper falls adds up another .4 miles. The hike from lower to middle falls is of moderate difficulty and not suitable for amateur hikers or beginners.
The trail is not accessible to bikers, although the railroad grade trail leads the bikers to a different spot altogether.
The falls and the trail are open all round the year and a must see/hike for all enthusiasts.

Rattlesnake hike is not your regular everyday trail. The slope is very steep at places and is not recommended for folks with injuries and definitely not for firsttimers. There is a small 5 mile roundtrip hike to the top of the mountain to begin with and goes upto 20 miles for people who want to go all through the snoqualmie valley.

The trail zigzags through muddy pools of water and takes you on rocks, though cut trees, wooden bridges and to astounding beauty of nature. I stopped at the Rattlesnake ledge, that gives an overlookpoint to look over the Rattlesnake lake down below. You can spot your car from teh top of the ledge that gives you a sense of achievement and makes the hike worth all the trouble.

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes-of-the-week/rattlesnake-mountain-trail

Sleeping:

1. Enough tents
2. Tarp, foam pads or air mattresses
3. Sleeping bags / comforters
4. Extra tarp to cover cooking area
5. Basic toiletries
6. Swimming trunks/suits, hiking shoes, Hats
7. Quarters – for using the showers at the campsite

Essentials:

1. Flashlights/ Lanterns
2. Extra layers of clothing
3. Insect repellents
4. Stoves
5. Propane cylinders -
6. Matches, lighters -
7. Grilling pans/Sauce pans/other cooking utensils
8. Paper plates -
9. Paper cups -
10. Paper Napkins -
11. Spoons -
12. Ladles –
13. Skewers
14. Can openers -
15. Knife/peeler -
16. Sun screen -
17. Coolers/campers (ice pack) -
18. Trash Bags -
19. First aid kit -
20. Ice for the icepack -
21. Firewood/Starter wood
22. Games – Catchphrase, Dodgeball, Frisbee -
23. Boom Box / Zune/ FM Transmiiter & CD’s
24. Foldable chairs

Food

1. Water (big jerry cans) -
2. Veggie/Meat burgers/Hot dogs -
3. Bread/ buns-
4. Cheese/Butter
5. Grease (Pam Spray) -
6. Soup cans /2 minute Noodles-
7. Tomatoes, Onions, Cucumber
8. Salt/Pepper/bbq and other seasoning
9. Chips/Soda/beer
10. Whole corn
11. Lime/Lemon
12. Scrub (for utensils)
13. Egg Beaters
14. Pancake mix/Other cereals
15. Milk
16. Coffee/Tea Powder
17. Sugar

To begin with, we have no experience watsoever with hiking, camping, biking, swimming, horse back riding, rafting or boating and this is what we wanted to do in GNP. The day started out with exploring and site seeing some of the local falls along the highway US-2 in western Washington and through Wenatchee. Talking about Wenatchee I will have to write another post to talk about Wenatchee alone. But for now back to GNP trip. Then we went as far as Spokane and still wanting more adventure we decided on the fly to head out to GNP. We immediately pull up information on our Win-Mo phones and make a few phone calls. Got ourselves a room on the bank of Lake McDonald in the Village Inn in Apgar Village.

The drive took about another 5 hours, total 9 hours to get to Apgar Village. The room we got to spend the nite opened into the lake, the view was the best and the feeling was just out of this world. We spent the night in the Village Inn and set out on the Road to the Sun which was a 50 mile drive filled with scenic beauty. The Chief Mountain, the Triple Arches, Mt. Clemens, wild fauna and flora just keep you engrossed all through the drive. We then camped at Rising Sun Motor Inn near the lake St.Mary for the night and then traced our way back to the city the next day.

By far this was the most adventurous trip I have had and makes me want to go there again very soon.

Here is what Wikipedia has on GNP. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_National_Park_%28U.S.%29