Great Reno Balloon Races

Every year in September were the Great Reno Balloon Races. You woke up so early in the morning it felt like you just feel asleep. It was pitch black outside your window, you couldn't even see the tree that brushed the pane of glass when it was a windy night.

Rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you stumble out of bed and cover your eyes as you turn on your lamp. You still wince from the brightness as the light floods the room and out into the hall. The kitchen light is already on where Mom is downstairs making hot chocolate and putting it into the old '70s blue thermos.

You reach for the warm clothes that mom made you set out before you went to bed. In actuality you haven't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours because you were so excited about the balloon Races. You have woken up this early to go to Dawn Patrol. The actual Races aren't until later in the day, but the whole event is over by 10AM.

After packing the car with the hot chocolate and blankets you set off. You pull the car off the freeway, any other time of year a very illegal offense, but police allow it these three days. Much like Mardi Gras and women with their tops off, it's an arrestable offense if done one day before or after.

After waiting for what seems like forever, you see down at the park the balloons start to fill up with air. There are always four brightly decorated balloons for dawn patrol. The fabric used to make these balloons make the whole balloon light up against the sky, with the sun illuminating the background. When you were little your Dad made a lot of money taking pictures of the balloon races, especially Dawn Patrol. Finally they are up in the air, and the effect is breathtaking. Up against the mountains the balloons are so close and yet so far away. They co-ordinate so that they light up at the same time. Your heart races as you watch these giants light up in the sky.

As they land you feel a sense of loss, for you will not see the spectacle for another year. But the chocolate is warming your body and you drift off to sleep, as does your family in the car.

The best kind of way to wake up is a little late, after the balloons have taken off. You'll never know another scene as great as waking up and being surrounded by these wonderful machines. Machines even sounds like the wrong word. Creatures seem more appropriate.

Your eyes slowly open and you catch your breath as you see them all around you. You get out of the car even though you know it will be freezing, and look at the wonderment that are these balloons. The biggest deal is that in the later years they don't just come in regular balloon form. There is the Energizer Bunny, a Panda, an Eagle's Head, a bottle of champane. Your whole family has a favorite. You search the sky for yours with wonderment.