Jonathan Block

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Four years ago, I weighed 147 LBS. Think about that -it’s skinny.  I started a weight training regimen made up of rigorous lifting and strict diet and within a year, I gained 20 LBS. Recently, I weighed in at 168 LBS. I’ve decided to make this mission the beginning of the road to 190 LBS. This mission won’t be able to be completed in a week, but in this week I can lay the groundwork and plot out the expected timeline between now and the time when I hit the goal. I’m talking about good solid muscle weight… not unhealthy fat. On Tuesday, I will post the expected timeline and my plans for hitting my weight goal.

Due to a scheduling conflict 2 weeks ago, and my mom being here this week, the missions are delayed. They should resume normally next week with some more crasy stuff. Keep an eye out for them!

Thanks to my dad, we got a screenshot of my mom and I in the front row. I tried to get us literally on the most premium seating called the “diamond” area at McAfee Stadium, but the best I could do was the normal section. Here we are in the front row behind the plate at Saturday’s A’s game.  My mom’s in the red sox shirt and white sox baseball cap. I’m to the left in my red sox jersey.

I haven’t had too much time to post this week - I’ve been very busy. Nevertheless, the missions will continue.

Saturday afternoon - I drive to Palo Alto Airport - a small airfield between the bay and a golf course in Palo Alto. I meet with my flight instructor and we go over what I can expect. I learn the what I’ll need to know in 45 minutes. We cover air traffic control, flight patterns, take off and landing, turning, and increasing and decreasing altitude.

We head out to the plane and prep the plane. It’s a 4 seater Cessna. After we go through the pre flight checklist, we hop in and get on the radio with ATC. We hold short of the runway while we do our final checklist and then we get clearance and we’re off.

During the flight, I got to take over the controls. For 45 minutes I got to go up, go down, turn, fly by reference and fly by instruments. My instructor and I would take turns so I could snap a few photos. I got some sweet photos of the peninsula and also in flight videos.

At the conclusion of the flight, after we closed up shop, I get my own log book. I have successfully completed my first hour of in flight training. If I choose to pursue my license, this hour counts towards my requirements.

Getting up on Saturday morning at 3:30AM is one of the hardest things in the world to do. I should have made it the last thing on my list. Matt was visiting during this mission and so he became part of the fun. We both were up and getting ready by 3:45 AM on Saturday morning. We were on the road within 20 minutes heading all the way up to Windsor. That would usually take a really long time, but when you travel at 4AM on a Saturday morning, there really aren’t any other cars on the road. We estimate the trip is going to take us 2 hours but it only takes us 1 hour and 40 minutes even though we stop at a McDonalds for a couple of Egg McMuffins.

Our directions instruct us to wait in the parking lot for a big white van to arrive. As we wait, we are tired and feel like zombies. Other cars pull up and it’s obvious we’re the only two people who are there that aren’t a couple. Maybe I should have done this one with a hot girl as our date.

We meet the pilot. He releases a helium balloon into the air and watches it as it changes direction while rising into the sky. He herds us all into his van, and we ride to the appropriate take off area based on the current weather patters: Sonoma County Airport.

After arriving, the pilot’s crew helps to unfold and position the deflated balloon on tarps which have been laid out on the grass. The pilot asks Matt and I to help by holding the opening in the balloon open and then he fires up a gas powered fan which begins to slowly inflate the balloon. For the next 20 minutes, the crew begins to prepare the balloon as it slowly inflates with cold air. The basket is unloaded from the truck and the pilot drags it close to where I’m standing and while I’m looking into the distance, I feel the heat from the first blast of fire into the opening of the balloon. It startles me. The grounds crew is finished with the preparation and the pilot now continues to add more heat which causes the balloon to begin to rise. Soon after, the time comes for us to get into the basket for takeoff.

There are 3 sections in our basket that help keep the different sets of passengers segmented from each other. It must help prevent bumping into other passengers during landings. Matt and I share a small area with two other people. I think there are 9 total in our basket including the pilot.

The pilot begins the takeoff sequence which is very slow and gentle. He happens to be an expert in making jokes on takeoff. He utters to himself just loud enough that we can hear… “Wait a minute you’re supposed to push this and it goes up, right?” He reaches for a rope hanging from somewhere up in the balloon and as he beings to pull it he utters, “What’s this thing do?”

Slow and gentle describes the entire experience of ballooning that follows. As we begin to float up, we are almost unable to feel any feeling of motion. The only thing which is quite obvious is that we’re rising. Our perspective of the surroundings begins to change and a beautiful view begins to unveil. Our perspective of the horizon begins to change and we can suddenly see for many miles - perhaps 100 miles away.

During the flight, the pilot held our balloon at a very low altitude. I think it was between 300 and 600 feet. We flew like this for about 30-45 minutes. We flew over mostly farms and farm houses. We saw vineyards, trees, horses grazing, and other balloons that had also taken off from our launch site.

About half way through the flight, the pilot changes altitude by heating up the balloon temperature. We rise to around 1000+ feet and for a moment, we feel a breeze. In a hot air balloon, it seems to rarely be breezy because you are floating with the wind. You seem to only experience a breeze when you are changing from one wind current to another. The wind current that we enter causes the balloon to start floating back in the direction of the airport.

We float by the two runways of Sonoma County Airport. We fly over historic aircrafts on display, small private 2 seaters and small jets. Our pilot finds a perfectly flat grassy area and we touch down. He pulls on some ropes that were suspended inside the balloon which actually release the top of the balloon’s roof. That seems to let the hottest air out very quickly and the balloon falls to the side and begins to droop. We get out and it takes about 30 more minutes while we help the crew help deflate and pack up the balloon.

It’s a tradition in ballooning to drink a glass of champaign at the conclusion of a flight. The passengers all meet at a brunch restaurant and we’re each given a half glass of champaign. The pilot recites a customary balloonist toast before we sip:

The winds have welcomed you with softness
The sun has blessed you with warm hands
You have flown so high and so well
That God had joined you in your laughter
and set you gently back into the loving arms of mother earth.

Yes, Matt… you are not a hot date but you were a great passenger on my mission #6.

This week, Matt has the pleasure of joining me for Mission #6: a hot air balloon ride! I expect to get some quality photos from Matt’s bad ass camera. Oh and in the attached photo, Matt’s Dorothy.