I Flew My Lawn Chair 235 Miles Across Oregon And Idaho

Idon’t know what the record is, but I sure enjoyed it. It’s a great opportunity to be able to get up there and float through the sky. It’s a serene feeling. One of the things I think about is that I’m blessed to be an American, being in a country where you can do things like this. I wouldn’t say our country is going great, but it’s still nice to be able to have the freedom to say, “I’ve got an idea, I’m going to do it!”

Originally, I wanted to try it because of boyhood dreams. Being a child holding a handful of balloons and thinking, 'If only I had a couple more I could lift off.' Those kind of things inspire me.

About three years ago I was watching Mythbusters, and they were trying to prove whether this guy Larry Walters really could have pulled the stunt off or not. Sure enough, it was done. I was intrigued by it. They had Adam (Savage) up there in the chair lifted up by balloons, but tied to a rope. I wanted them to just let him fly. They wouldn’t let him go and dragged him back down, and I thought it was just a crime putting in all the effort and then pulling him in. He could have had the best trip of his life.

That’s when I went to work in the shop and started putting things together. I’ve got a lawn chair, a couple poles mounted to the side and then I drilled a few holes to put the ropes through. We mounted it up like that and then put jugs underneath to hold water for the ballast so I can go up if I come back down.