Family Bucket List

I just crossed #66 off my bucket list. Well, I didn’t call it that at the time, but I sup­pose that it is the accepted nomen­cla­ture now, so that’s what I’ll use. Just in case you are too lazy to click through or have trou­bled with num­bered lists, #66 was a hot air bal­loon ride. Since my dad’s, Dong Ha’s, and my birth­days are bunched up together near Mother’s Day, we usu­ally do some­thing nice together as a fam­ily. (And jok­ingly call it the “Every­one But Gio Linh Party.”)

Since my par­ents will be mov­ing away this sum­mer and I’m not sure we’ll be able to do this in the future, I wanted to do some­thing spe­cial this time; prefer­ably some­thing high­light­ing Cal­i­for­nia awe­some­ness for them to remem­ber when they are in Min­nesota. At first, my sis­ters and I planned on a wine tour in Napa, since the scenery is awe­some and my par­ents enjoy wine. We checked out reviews on the best vine­yards to visit and pho­tog­ra­phers in the area who do out­door por­traits. Also looked into the Wine Train, since dad does love trains.

But then I found some­thing even bet­ter… a deal on a hot air bal­loon ride over Napa Val­ley! At first, both sis­ters were appre­hen­sive. (I did not real­ize Dong Ha has a fear of heights!) But I bit the bul­let and booked us any­way, since it would be a once-​in-​a-​lifetime experience.

Man, was I right to do so! The flight was awe­some. And that’s despite hav­ing to wake up at 3 to get to Napa slightly before dawn. Our pilot was really funny and enter­tain­ing, and our bal­loon was first up and (almost) last down. The scenery was amaz­ing! And we had quite an adven­ture at the end as we almost landed on a church and then almost some trees as we were try­ing to land.

After­wards, Dad said he loved it and com­pared it to rid­ing a motor­cy­cle in the sky. I men­tioned that I was excited that I could cross some­thing off my bucket list now, and Dong Ha said it was on hers, too. (Gio Linh says she hasn’t made a bucket list yet, but I’m sure it would have been on there for her to cross off now.) Mommy didn’t know what a bucket list was, but basi­cally described the same thing in Viet, so con­sider it crossed off her list, too. Score! The post title may be a bit eerie or mor­bid, but it is quite fitting.

I highly rec­om­mend the expe­ri­ence to every­one. And if you are scared, don’t be. Dong Ha said she was scared of falling, but the bas­ket is four feet high, so you’d have to be actively try­ing to fall over­board. There is absolutely no risk if you are just stand­ing around. Also, there was no motion-​sickness, either. The bas­kets do not sway in the wind at all, and the sen­sa­tion of going up and down is lighter than it is in an elevator.

Tags: Dinhternet, Dong Ha, Family, Gio Linh, Viet