The Great Park Balloon Ride

If you live in south OC or have driven past Irvine on the 405 or 5 freeway, you have probably caught a glimpse of an orange looking sphere floating in the sky. That orange sphere is the Great Park Balloon and can carry up to 30 people at a time to 400 feet above the park. It is an observation deck of sorts and it's purpose is to allow people to see the progression of the construction of the Great Park. It is a a neat thing to do if you have some free time. Plus it is free! I can see myself having a picnic here soon!

Inside the visitors' center, there is a large map of what the Great Park will be once completed and know it is going to be an amazing place. I cannot wait to go running there.

Simple. Just go to the visitors' center and fill out a waiver. You get put on a list and on this particular day, our wait time was 20 minutes. They give you a pager, like at the Cheesecake Factory and when it is your turn to ride the balloon, they page you and you head over to the loading dock.

Getting off the ground. Scary!

This area here, once a landing area for military planes will be a lake in the future! They have it marked for demo. You can't see the demo lines in this photo but it is neat to see this place before it transforms.

North is THAT way.

Started to clear up a bit.

She got up there all by herself. ;^)