Detour again!!!

When we returned to Reno on Sunday, I picked up a flyer that had information about Reno's Balloon Festival, Sept. 7 - 9.   We were leaving Tahoe and going to Yosemite on the 7th, but the call of 100 hot air balloons launching 90 minutes from our campground was too tempting.   So at 4 AM this morning we jumped in the car and headed to Reno for the 6:45 AM launch.   We arrived in plenty of time to watch a beautiful sunrise and the balloonists prepare their balloons for launch. 

 We had journeyed to Albuquerque NM fifteen years ago for their Balloonfest.  It was so much fun that we went every morning before dawn to watch the ballloons take off.  Back then I had no idea that the event was over by 8 AM!  I also did not have an automatic camera or a video camera, this time would be much more fun.

  I came prepared with 2 digital cameras, two lenses, one video camera and my trusty cell phone, I was prepared for a photographer's paradise!!!

 

Tony and I watched all the balloons take off.  You could meander through the fields so you could get up close as they were inflating and launching the balloons.


 We had enough sense to arrange a meeting location, because we both went separate ways.  By 8 AM the launch was over, we both arrived at our predetermined location and we were on our way back to Tahoe to pack up and get on the road again.  By 10:30 we pulled up stakes and are Yosemite bound.

Ps.  For those of you who are worried about the outbreak of the Hantavirus they have had in Yosemite, we are not staying in the park campground.  It's mainly a problem in the tent cabins due to mice droppings.