The 40th annual Great Reno Balloon Race was taking place over the weekend and we wanted to get there in time to see all of the events. There was going to be a handful of balloons burning bright before the sun came up, in what they were calling the Glow Show. It was going to start at 5 am and we didn’t want to miss it. We figured 3:45 am would be early enough to wake up, make the 36 minute drive to the Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, find parking, and have time to spare. We assumed that it being before 5 in the morning, the crowd would be minimal, we could easily get a parking space, and find a good place to sit. We weren’t expecting that everyone within a 50 mile radius of Reno would have the same idea.
As we got within a mile or so of the park, we started noticing a lot of vehicles parked along the street throughout the residential neighborhoods and a bunch of people walking in the same direction we were headed. It seemed odd that people would park and start walking when there was still a long way to go. The GPS had us going to what we assumed to be the parking lot for the park so we continued on, thinking the people walking were locals walking from their homes or didnt want to pay for parking. The closer to the park we got, the longer the line of traffic became and the more people we saw that were walking or riding bikes but no matter, we knew what we were doing.
Sure it was nearly 5:00 but if we got a parking spot in the park, there would still be time to catch the opening show. By this time, there was traffic and pedestrians everywhere and we were moving at a snails pace. According to the GPS, we were nearly at the entrance of the park so all was not lost, just a couple hundred yards and we’d be there. Finally we made it to the entrance of the park and could see the attendant directing traffic, we were next in line. We pull up to the attendant and he asks for our pass… Pass? What pass? The parking inside the park is only for VIP pass holders? NO!
Now it was after 5 and there was going to be no place to park within 1/2 a mile of the event. We began driving around dejected, looking for some place to park but having no luck. There was another attendant up ahead and we were hopeful that he might have an idea of where would be a good place to park. He suggested the college stadium about 3/4 of a mile away. It wasn’t ideal but if we hurried it would still be possible to see the Dawn Patrol balloons take off at 5:30. It was cutting it close, but we were able to make it in time to find a place to stand and watch as the balloons started getting ready for their performance.
The Dawn Patrol performance more than made up for missing the earlier 5 o’clock show. As part of the Dawn Patrol performance, the announcer choreographed the pilots of the balloons to ignite their burners in sequential or synchronous order resulting in a spectacular light display especially with the night sky as the backdrop. The balloons started off lined single file, one next to the other, but once they were close to taking off they began to move into a staggered formation in order to not bump into their neighbor as they started their ascent into the morning sky.
As the the Dawn Patrol balloons floated off to the West, the sun began to rise in the East. With the sun starting to come up, we began to see just how many people had shown up to the event. There were way more people there than we had expected, most of which had brought blankets to lay on and to cover up with. Some were in sleeping bags and looked like they had been there for a while. There were tons of vendors selling all kinds of light up toys, souveniors, and all kinds of breakfast food. One of the vendors at the event was selling beer, mimosas, bloody marys, and mixed drinks to help some ease the pain of being up so early.
With the Dawn Patrol balloons off in the distance and the sun up over the horizon, it was time for the remaining 80 or so balloons to begin preparations for the mass ascension at 7:00 am. Before the crew of each balloon began the cold inflation with large gas powered fans there was little evidence of that many balloons from our vantage point. But, as soon as the inflation began, brightly colored bubbles started to appear on the ground from every direction.
There were balloons of all different shapes and colors. There was Smokey the Bear, Humpty Dumpty, a constable, a criminal, a racoon, a cowboy and a unicorn just to name a few. We were expecting all of the balloons to launch simultaneously but after seeing the huge number at the event, it quickly became evident that that couldn’t have worked. There were so many balloons in the park that the pilots and crews were working diligently to get the balloons into the sky as quickly as they could. As soon as they were prepped and ready, they got off of the ground and into the sky making room for the others to launch.
After the first balloon took flight at 7, it took about an hour for all of the balloons to get airborne. It was a spectacular sight watching all of the hot air balloons rising into the sky altogether like they did. We could have chosen to watch the launch from far away and not have to had deal with the crowd and traffic like a lot of people had, but being right in the middle of the show and having beautiful balloons take flight on all sides of us was definitely worth the bit of inconvenience it cost to make it happen. Hot air balloons might not be the most efficient ways to travel but they have to be one of the more elegant, floating calmly and quietly like a cloud.
