Hot air balloons in Sonoma County come to life. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
It didn’t matter that the marine layer prevented the hot air balloons from taking flight. Just watching the early morning ritual was spectacular.
The Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic in July was my first hot air balloon festival. The two-day event at the fairgrounds in Santa Rosa featured about 20 balloons.
Balloons dwarf people roaming the fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
The three of us—me, Sue, Darla—arrived in time for the 5am glow. The bright balloons literally glow as the propane burners fill the insides and these marvels seem to come to life. Of course the brighter the fabric of the balloon, the prettier it was—at least to me.
The character ones—Yoda, a fish, a butterfly—were interesting, but it was the traditional ones I liked the most.
The announcer, who kept the crowd engaged during the cold pre-dawn start (gates opened at 4am), had the pilots do a twinkle—meaning they took turns firing the gas, which literally had the balloons twinkling one after another. It was quite the spectacle.
One year it would be fun to see the mass of balloons in the sky. Maybe I’ll have to go the Reno festival. One of the pilot’s handed out info about the Great Reno Balloon Race, which just marked its 46th year. It is the largest free hot air ballooning event in the world. Kinda sad I never went considering I lived so close.
A balloon pilot pulls the fuel trigger. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
And maybe one day I’ll even ride in a balloon. Being there made me think I might like to. Ideally, my sporadic fear of heights would not be triggered … but I digress.
On the same card about Reno it said the inside of a hot air balloon can hit 275 degrees. Just a hint of that heat would have felt nice that morning.
The first Reno event had 20 balloons and now has about 100. Makes me wonder if the Sonoma County event will grow that large one day.
I would think dawn patrol at any balloon event is the way to go. It really was magical.
Kae,
So glad you enjoyed! I’m blessed to have crewed for a hot air balloon team starting in 1983. My first balloon ride was a gift certificate from a friend while living in So Cal. I ended up as lifetime friends with the pilot and his wife and a host of many other hot air balloon pilots/crews. Reno is a special event I’ve attended since 1984. Also, have crewed at the Sonoma event many years ago and many other locations including France and England. I’m hoping you get to experience a flight someday. There’s no way to explain being airborne as you must experience it yourself. Each ride in a balloon is a wonderous unique experience.
Lots of fun. Bring on Albuquerque.
For my 40th birthday we did a hot air balloon ride out of Minden/Gardnerville. We got to go inside the balloon while being inflated. We flew up to view over the crest of the Sierras at dawn into the Tahoe basin. Spectacular! We had one nervous passenger and the balloonists comment was the only difference between 100 feet and 1,000 feet is the length of the scream.