Party balloons take Oregonian on dream flight
Lawn-chair journey was man's third attempt to ride winds to Idaho.
Party balloons carry Oregonian on dream flight

By The Associated Press

Published: July 6, 2008

BEND, Ore. — Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho.

Kent Couch created a sensation in the tiny farming community of Cambridge, Idaho, where he touched down safely in a pasture and was soon greeted by dozens of people who gave him drinks of water, local plumber Mark Hetz said.

Couch covered about 235 miles in about nine hours after lifting off at dawn from his gas station riding in a lawn chair rigged with an array of more than 150 giant party balloons.

"Things just look different from up there. You've moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity,” the 48-year-old said.

"Originally, I wanted to do it because of boyhood dreams. I don't know about girls, but I think most guys look up in the sky and wish they could ride on a cloud,” he added.

This was Couch's third balloon flight. He realized it would be possible after watching a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles of truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero fame but was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.

In 2006, Couch had to parachute out after popping too many balloons. And last year he flew 193 miles to the sagebrush of northeastern Oregon, short of his goal.

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