A few weeks ago I was out watching the United States vs Costa Rica men's football match and some awesome new friends Matt, Liz, and Jose invited me to join them bright and early the next morning for the Reno Hot Air Balloon Race. We left Sacramento at 4 am and headed east in order to arrive for the launch of all the race participants.
When we arrived at the event, there were only a few balloons up and it didn't look like much. They began with the national anthem and a flyover of 4 old school T-6s doing the missing man formation. Then, when the announcer gave permission for everyone to begin inflating their balloons, the field around up burst to life and from all sides people began unpacking and inflating their balloons. It was the coolest thing, seeing all those colors come alive as the balloons grew and everywhere you looked there was something new to see.
As they inflated, each balloon began to take flight and hovered over the staging area for some time. (We eventually realized it was because there was virtually no wind and therefore they didn't have much choice but to just sort of stay where they were rather than attempt to get to the finish area). The sky was so incredibly blue and the colors of the balloons so vivid against the backdrop. It was definitely one of the coolest things I've seen in my life!
After watching all the balloons launch we headed over to Donner State park where Liz, Matt, and Jose found some great rocks for bouldering and while they climbed I studied bold face, ops limits, local procedures, tactical arrivals, and other such exciting things for MQT. It was really nice just sitting out in the sunshine in the middle of the woods enjoying the day. I realized it was the first time back in the woods since SERE and this go around was FAR more enjoyable!
After climbing we stopped at Donner Lake and got out to enjoy the beautiful view before heading back to Sac.
Thanks a lot to Liz for the great idea and to all three of you for letting me tag along!
When we arrived at the event, there were only a few balloons up and it didn't look like much. They began with the national anthem and a flyover of 4 old school T-6s doing the missing man formation. Then, when the announcer gave permission for everyone to begin inflating their balloons, the field around up burst to life and from all sides people began unpacking and inflating their balloons. It was the coolest thing, seeing all those colors come alive as the balloons grew and everywhere you looked there was something new to see.
As they inflated, each balloon began to take flight and hovered over the staging area for some time. (We eventually realized it was because there was virtually no wind and therefore they didn't have much choice but to just sort of stay where they were rather than attempt to get to the finish area). The sky was so incredibly blue and the colors of the balloons so vivid against the backdrop. It was definitely one of the coolest things I've seen in my life!
After watching all the balloons launch we headed over to Donner State park where Liz, Matt, and Jose found some great rocks for bouldering and while they climbed I studied bold face, ops limits, local procedures, tactical arrivals, and other such exciting things for MQT. It was really nice just sitting out in the sunshine in the middle of the woods enjoying the day. I realized it was the first time back in the woods since SERE and this go around was FAR more enjoyable!
After climbing we stopped at Donner Lake and got out to enjoy the beautiful view before heading back to Sac.
Thanks a lot to Liz for the great idea and to all three of you for letting me tag along!
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