Away We Go

The French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier developed a hot-air balloon in Annonay, Ardèche, France, and demonstrated it publicly on September 19, 1783, making an unmanned flight lasting 10 minutes. After experimenting with unmanned balloons and flights with animals, the first balloon flight with humans aboard, a tethered flight, performed on or around October 15, 1783, by Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier, who made at least one tethered flight from the yard of the Reveillon workshop in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Later that same day, Pilatre de Rozier became the second human to ascend into the air, reaching an altitude of 26 m (85 ft), the length of the tether. The first free flight with human passengers was made a few weeks later, on November 21, 1783. King Louis XVI had originally decreed that condemned criminals would be the first pilots, but de Rozier, along with Marquis François d'Arlandes, petitioned successfully for the honor.

When I first moved to Colorado I would notice hot-air balloons flying around on occasion. It would bring back memories of when my parents would take us to The Philadelphia Hot-Air Balloon races. I remember watching the colorful balloons float up and away in a peaceful, yet exciting way. After moving to Erie, Colorado my occasional balloon sighting became a regular occurrence. My excitement is still always there when I see them. 

The day I took this photograph was beautiful, but a cloudy sky.  I was able to capture this photo by standing right underneath the balloon as it ascended into the sky. The bright colors of the balloon standing out against the washed out cloudy sky.

Location: Erie, Colorado