Hot Air Balloons and Rocky Mountain Oysters

In case you're wondering: the items in my title have nothing to do with each other. Except, I guess they're both round, and attached to other things (okay, I admit that that just came to me and I'm laughing at my own humor).

Also--another common link between them is that it takes an adventurous person (or a regular person in an adventurous mood) to try them.

A random thought occurred to me today that I want to add riding in a hot air balloon to my bucket list. When I was young, like really young, as in 6 and 7 years old, my family lived in Spokane, Washington. There was a park down the street from us, and occasionally on Saturday mornings in the summer, we could hear and see an assortment of hot air balloons being inflated and taking off. I loved the sight and sound of it. I wished even back then that I could ride in one of those colorful, majestic balloons. It's a dream I'd forgotten about...but it's a dream I want to make sure happens, so I'm adding it as item #9 on my list of things to do before I die (the other items are listed on my blog sidebar). 

Also, I ate Rocky Mountain Oysters for the first time last month. I actually already forgot about that, too, but I was looking through photos on my phone tonight and discovered the picture I took before I ate them (I HAD to take a photo because I was so proud of myself for even trying them!). My friend John and I went on a spur-of-the-moment drive up to Montana in the middle of March and went to dinner at the restaurant in Wisdom, and I decided to be bold and adventurous and order them.

They look delicious, don't you think?! Overall, eating them wasn't a bad experience. The thinner slices tasted good (almost anything tastes good dipped in batter and fried, right?!). But the thicker slices were not as good--they were chewy and had a weird texture. I'm not sure if I'll ever eat them again, but I'm glad that I can say I at least tried, because there was a time when I wouldn't have even considered it...

I can remember going on cattle drives with Josh when we were newlyweds (back when his family owned beef cattle and range land), and discovering what Rocky Mountain Oysters were (I was an ignorant city girl who knew nothing about ranch life).  I gagged and seriously about barfed the first time I heard that our neighbor and Frank ate them! I've come a long way since then!

I like trying new things. I know that eating Rocky Mountain Oysters and dreaming of riding in hot air balloons may not sound very adventuresome, but when I try ANYTHING new and foreign, I feel exhilarating and adventurous and happy!!!