Balloon ride checked off 'bucket list'

Ms. Deborah Saucier is a resident of Bryant who has loved hot air balloons since she was 10-years old.

"It was just kind of ethereal even, I don't know of a better word to use," Saucier said. 

She recently celebrated her 59th Birthday.

"We had a chance to write down our bucket lists and thanks to the movie that was made available to us. And this was on my bucket list and I don't even remember what else I wrote down, but this was number one," Saucier said.

Nancy Brown is the Executive Director of Southern Trace Rehabilitation and Care Center in Bryant, and surprised Saucier with the balloon ride.

"Deborah has been at our facility about a year. Just a pleasant, pleasant lady and participates in all the festivities. [We are] resident-centered care. We want to do anything different, and let residents continue to live their lives," Brown said.

"We saw the sunrise come up. I can't even think about it right now. Every color and bush and tree and flower you can imagine. And when he went over the water, we could lean in and see the reflection of the balloon," Saucier said.

The balloon landed at the Ranch is west Little Rock, off Cantrell Road. Saucier took her first hot air balloon ride flying 8.9 miles and 1500 feet up in the air.

David Hoover is the pilot and owner of Balloon Little Rock.

"And I thought it was a great idea and wanted to do what I could do to make somebody's dream happen," Hoover said.

"We did something called a 'splash and go.' He didn't tell me we we're going to do this, or he wouldn't have done it with me in this basket. He went over the water and splashed down in the water and pulled back up. It was ok," Saucier said.

Seeing "everything and something else," she said she is ready to try it again.

"Tomorrow? Fire this baby up now. It was just amazing. The most fun thing you could ever do," Saucier said.