Living near the Napa Valley, we tend to take the balloon-filled skies for granted.  Pity that.  I still haven't been up in one though.  I am adding that to life's list of get out and have some fun!  Be sure to follow the link to the Napa Valley Balloons' site to find out how to put your adventure together!
 
http://www.napavalleyballoons.com/history.html

A Brief History of Napa Valley Balloons

---

After taking his first balloon ride for his 33rd birthday in 1978, pilot and founder Don Surplus purchased a balloon 10 days later with four of his newfound converts and started a flying club which they later named Napa Valley Balloons.

There were about 400 balloons in the U.S. at that time, making ballooning a very unique and curious activity. Every time a balloon landed, the almost magical allure attracted countless people to the balloon site, many of them bent on using any means imaginable to convince the pilot to take them for a flight.

It wasn't long before Napa Valley Balloons took on a life of its own as a business venture. In 1980, it incorporated. Today, founders Don Surplus and Kim Kleist are the proud pilots and owner-operators of what is regarded as one of the finest hot air balloon companies in the U.S. Their personal experience spans flights in the U.S. and Europe and seventeen years attendance at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival.

With Napa Valley Balloons, Inc. as the flagship of the industry, more people are flown in Napa Valley than any other flight corridor in the world. To its credit, Napa Valley is recognized the world over for fine wines, culinary excellence, and hot air ballooning - Napa Valley Balloons, Inc. is proud to have played an instrumental part in building that recognition.

An Abbreviated History of Ballooning

---

• September 19, 1783 ~ A sheep, a duck, and a rooster become the first passengers in a hot air balloon launched by the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Ettienne.

• November 21,1783 ~ The first recorded manned flight in a hot air balloon took place in Paris. Built from paper and silk by the Montgolfier brothers, this balloon was piloted on a 22 minute flight by two noblemen from the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

• January 19, 1784 ~ In Lyon, France, the only recorded flight by Joseph Montgolfier was made in one of the largest balloons ever made.

• September 15, 1784 ~ An Italian, Vincenzo Lunardi, made the first balloon flight outside of France. The 500 cubic metre balloon flew from Moorfields in England and landed near Ware.

• November 30, 1784 ~ Launching their balloon from Rhedarium Garden, London, another Frenchman, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, and an American, John Jeffries, make their first flight.

• January 7, 1785 ~ the same team of Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries became the first to fly across the English Channel.

• January 9, 1793 ~ the first flight of a balloon in North America occured in Philadelphia and was piloted by Jean-Pierre Blanchard.

• October 10, 1960 ~ the official birth date of the modern hot-air balloon. The first man-carrying free flight took place at Bruning, Nebraska, in the Raven prototype 'modern' hot-air balloon. The 30,000 cu ft envelope was constructed of a polyurethane coated nylon and the burner was propane powered.

By 1963, the growing sport was able to sustain the first U.S. national championships.