Balloon Races

On Sunday, we went to the Great Reno Balloon Races. Wow! What an experience. We got there around 5:00 in the morning so we could see the Dawn Patrol, a group of 5 balloon pilots who are qualified to fly in the dark. They take off just before dawn and it is an amazing sight. Here's a short video of them "glowing" when they fire off their propane torches to heat the air in the balloons before taking off.

After the sun comes up is the mass ascension. It is such an awesome sight to see the 100+ balloons inflating and rising up all around you from what seemed moments before like a flat field. We took a zillion pictures. It will probably take a while for us to sort through them and get them posted online.