Up, Up & Away!

Reno, NV Balloon Festival 9/6/19

We had made reservations in Reno for a few reasons. One was to (finally) get one of our levelers replaced at an RV shop that had fit us into their schedule. Maybe we’d also see a show, go to a museum, explore the area, whatever. Then we discovered that the weekend that we were there was the Reno Balloon Festival. Balloons!

The day before the festival officially started we went to the launch location and did a bit of a walkabout. I spoke to a volunteer trying to find a good location to see the early morning launch without having to deal with the large crowds that were expected. He pointed out a neighborhood that looked down on the site that had a nice road to park on. We checked it out and it looked too good to be true. Easy access, easy parking. What the hell, we’ll give it a try.

We decided that the sunrise launch was a bit early for us, so we planned on getting up at the crack of dawn in order to get to the site before 6:30 (7:00-7:30 mass launch). As we left the park, Patti saw the “Dawn Patrol” in the air: still dark out and there were 5 or 6 lit up balloons in the air. It was surreal and only the beginning.

We arrived at the viewing location and there was plenty of room. It was also fantastic. Looking down on the field with more than 60 hot air balloons spread out on the ground was pretty cool. We watched them fill their envelopes with hot air and start rising in twos and threes until the sky was filled with them going in many directions. Many came right over our heads and landed beyond the small hill behind us with the tops of the balloons just peeking over the rise. Several landed right in front of us. And the sight of all of those balloons at about our altitude was mind-blowing. Crazy. An experience we’ll always remember. And totally worth setting the alarm for 4 AM. By 10 AM we had gotten breakfast and were back at the RV having had a full day’s worth of memories.

Oh yeah, while in Reno we also went to Virginia City. Saw camels. Drank a beer over lunch. Just another day on the road.