Last week, Hurricane Earl threatened to put a damper on everyone's holiday weekend but changed his mind at the last minute Friday. While we did get some rain and wind people discovered the weekend wasn't a complete wash when they woke up to find the sun shining Saturday morning.

I had been watching the weather very closely.

My grandfather is in the states from Guatemala and we have been planning a hot air balloon ride for weeks. Last time we tried, the wind was too intense and our flight was canceled. So when it came time for our flight on Monday, I was urging Earl to blow the other way.

At 5:00 in the morning we were up and on our way to meet the balloon in Salem, N.H.(Thank goodness for the 24-hour Dunkin Donuts!)

I could tell as the sun started to rise that it was going to be a perfect day. I had never been ballooning before, so my evaluation of "perfect" was confirmed when our balloon pilot said it was the best day he's had all summer.

The balloon ride was exciting. My grandfather loved the 100+ mile views to Boston, Hampton Beach and Mt. Washington. It didn't at all feel like we were "flying"- more like floating 1,300 feet through the air. The wicker balloon basket reminded me of the chairs my mom used to have in the sun room. I remember the splinters and the creaking/cracking sound they would make whenever I jumped on them too hard-so the idea of the wicker holding me from plummeting 1,000 feet to the ground or the top of a pine tree was a little scary. I tried not to think about it. But, I'm writing this blog so obviously my feet are back on solid ground.

It was the best way I've ended the summer in a long time.

What did you do to celebrate the end of the summer?