Even though we were tired, the drive to Casper wasn't so bad. Matt took the first shift. When we stopped for lunch at a Chick-Fil-A in Colorado Springs, I took over.
While we were driving, we talked about Colorado. It was so great to be finished with state 49. I was thankful that Nate of Skydive Colorado got us in the air early so we could get to Casper before sunset. Along the way, we saw some pretty cool rock formations and took some pictures, but it wasn't until I was writing this post that I noticed the rock climbers.
When we drove past the area above, I figured it must be Castle Rock, but it wasn't. Castle Rock has a 45 foot tall star on top.
They definitely have some interesting rock formations in Colorado!
Of course, there was singing and silliness!
After lunch, we tried to figure out where to stay. There are so many hotel websites that it's hard to tell if you're getting the best deal. After 30 minutes of internet shopping, we decided to stay at the Best Western Plus.
I sent an email to Ray, our balloon pilot, to let him know that we'd be arriving in Casper around 5. He wrote back right away and said to give him a call around 7:30. That sounded sooooo late - I wondered if we could stay awake that long.
Our hotel room was awesome - clean, roomy, and quiet! We were thrilled with our choice. While we were getting settled in, I got a text from a balloon pilot named Cameron. When I was doing research, I contacted Cameron, but he was already booked and he recommended Ray.
Cameron said he'd be joining us in the morning! Sweet! I sent a reply asking for dinner recommendations. He suggested a few places and we decided to go with The Keg & Cork.
The restaurant was a short drive from our hotel - only 2 miles! By the time we got there, it was almost 6. When the waitress came to take our drink order, we explained we were in a hurry. She took great care of us and we had our food less than 10 minutes later. Our bill was printed at 6:06! Dinner was yummy and the service was awesome!
After we finished eating, we drove out to the fields on the east side of town to look at potential landing areas. We found a number of open fields that might work, but some had "No Trespassing" signs.
Our next stop was South Sedar Park - the launch site. By the time we got there, we were running on empty! I decided to call Ray shortly after 7. Fortunately, Ray lived nearby and offered to picked us up.
When I was doing my research, I found a number of balloon pilots in Wyoming and for one reason or another they didn't work out. After meeting Ray, I realized that they didn't work out because I was supposed to meet him. Not only did Ray have 30 years of experience, he was a genuinely nice guy.
Ray took us to the lookout on Casper Mountain. As you can see from the photo, there is plenty of green. Ray said for the most part we could land anywhere - not to worry about the trespassing signs. Awesome! On the down side, most of the area wasn't flat. We'd have to choose wisely when we were landing.
On the way back, Ray took us to Rotary Park and we got out of the car. We followed him up the trail to a waterfall. Cool! Ray gave us entertainment recommendations for after our jump, but I was having a hard time thinking straight!
There was one last stop at Ray's house to check out the balloon basket and to practice climbing up on the rail. Having an opportunity to practice was great! Afterward, Ray took us to our car and we agreed to meet him at 5:15 in the morning.
We got showers before we went to bed and set our alarm for 4:45 AM. Neither one of us would spend much time getting ready in the morning. As I was falling asleep, I tried to rememer the words to the song we were singing in the car - "Best Day Of My Life" by American Authors.
