The only tour we booked ahead of time was a hot air balloon ride early on the morning of our anniversary. It turned out, though, that we did two other adventures that day. We truly had a unique and absolutely wonderful 25th anniversary.

25th Anniversary Activities

Filling it up with air

Then add the heat

In the gondola

Up, up, and away

Lake Pleasant

A little gift  out over the desert

The traditional champagne celebration after the flight

The balloon ride was with Unicorn Balloon Company and began near Cave Creek, about a half hour north and west of our resort

After lunch, we went on an ATV ride. Actually, the ride was a Tomcar, an Israeli military vehicle

The car had no axles, with all four wheels independent of each other. There was no power steering and very little in the way of electronics. It made for a relatively smooth ride over the rocky desert

We saw parts of the desert along the 22 mile road that you wouldn’t see if you weren't in an ATV. We saw an old fort on a hill as well as the location of an old town along a fairly dry riverbed where a guy is building a new town for tourists.

Near the end of the ATV ride, we hopped into a truck and went to a shooting range, where we learned how to safely fire a Glock handgun and an M-16 rifle. It was the first time Madeline had ever held a gun and it had been quite a while for me. I’d say we didn’t do too bad for a couple of amateurs