Great Reno Ballon Race

The Great Reno Ballon Race is awesome. At first, the idea of waking up at 3:30am didn't really excite me, but I was wrong. Yes, Jill & I did get up at 3:30am, bundled the kids in warm clothes and hit the road. Since we live on the other side of town, it took us a little over 30 minutes to get to the park. By 4:45am we spread out our picnic blanket, wrapped me & the kids in blankets (Jill was busy taking all the pictures and videos you see below).

FYI It's very cold at 5am

At 5am, the "Glow Show" started, and this is where 4-5 balloons take turns "glowing" their balloon. When it's pitch dark and mountains are in the background and music is playing, this "glowing" is much more beautiful than it sounds.

Soon after the "Glow Show", the "Dawn Patrol" began. This is when 4-5 different ballons inflate and then take turns ascending into the sky....all before sunrise. Again, the glow, the mountains, the music and these balloons ascending one at a time is something spectacular to see.

Then right after sunrise, approx 7am, the "Mass Ascension" began. This was amazing. 100 balloons ascending all over the place. We were allowed to walk right up to the balloons as they were taking off. The first balloon up carried an American Flag as we all sang the National Anthem. Kinda gives ya the chills.

Once all the balloons were in the air, the race officials placed a large "X" in the middle of the field. The balloons then took turns throwing bean bags at the "X".....kinda like "closest to the pin" in a golf tournament.

Again, yes, it was crazy getting up at 3:30am, but it was well worth it. I hope some of our friends & family will be able to visit for this event in the future to share this awesome time with us (it occurs the weekend after Labor Day every year). Enjoy the pictures and videos below, there are 10 videos but they are all less than 35 seconds long each.