So we stayed up, and watched bad, late-night TV: infomercials advertising appliances for obscure kitchen tasks, movies with monsters squashing towns, and Girls Gone Wild commercials that began with a warning accompanied by Caribbean music.
At 4 a.m., it was time to leave. I drove. She kept me good company through the first thirty minutes of the trip and then passed out in the passenger seat. I spent the next forty-five minutes or so struggling to keep myself up. I cracked the window and let the breeze blow on my face. The sudden noise from my opened window barely stirred her as we cruised the empty highway. She would periodically wake long enough to apologize for falling asleep and then fall asleep again.
We arrived a little early in the wine country. The sun’s round head peaked over the horizon, casting a bright yellowish hue over the sprawling green fields. I woke her to see the sight and she said, “Hmmm, that’s amazing…” and then returned her head to the comfortable position she’d lifted it from.
I started to get nervous as I passed signs for various wineries and realized I had forgotten the name of the winery where I’d made the reservation. I learned to my dismay there were twenty-one wineries in the area and about half of them offered hot air balloon launches. I relied on my trusty memory, which astutely recalled “Something-Something Winery.”
I pulled into the parking lot of the first winery I saw, hoping for dumb luck—which turned out to lack the luck part.
I got back in the car and drove, hoping one of the signs would jog my memory. I pulled up to the next winery as my date stayed in the car and wished me luck. Perhaps she was too tired to be annoyed with me and didn’t seem disappointed.
While this winery was also not the correct one, a worker directed me to a winery half a mile down the road, “That’ll be the one you’re looking for.”
Driving further along the road, I saw the sign and it all came back to me. The worker was right, this was the correct one. I noticed it was now shortly after 5:30 a.m. as we pulled in. I saw a big balloon being loaded up with a group of people waiting to get on it. My memory recalled the note telling us not to be late and I was afraid our heroic sleep-deprived efforts would all be for naught.
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