Another early morning found Dianne and me with our cameras and tripods ready to shoot the glow show and pre-dawn launch. Not all pilots are licensed to fly in the dark, so only eight ballons were set up to go at 5:00 am. But the park was packed! People and families with young children everywhere – at 5 am!! – standing about, sitting on chairs, lying on blankets, eager to watch this amazing show. And once again, everyone excited and happy to be here.
The glow show was similar to yesterday’s but with all eight balloons taking part and with more choreography. See the clip below and listen to the appreciative crowd.
After a short cool-down period, the balloons reinflated for the dawn launch. Everything this morning was set to music designed to heighten the drama of the event, and it worked and added to the fun. The clip below shows the balloons reinflating.
The simultaneous launch was exciting. First, every other balloon moved forward (toward us) to create more room around them. As they lifted off, two of the balloons flew right past Dianne and me, perhaps 40 or 50 feet in the air. For a moment, I was a bit worried that they might actually bowl us over!
But indeed we were not bowled over physically, just figuratively!
We watched as they floated off into the approaching dawn, a truly lovely and peaceful experience, one I hope to have again.
Following the launch, throngs of people poured in to view the daytime program. We could see that the field would be so packed with people that good photo opportunities (for the balloons that is) would be limited. We said goodbye to the 2018 Great Reno Balloon Race under a striking pre-dawn sky.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these photos. I encourage everyone to attend a hot air balloon event sometime. It’s pretty wonderful!
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