Reno lets the good times roll

That first year, director John Huston won the race aboard a camel borrowed from the San Francisco zoo; he was in Virginia City filming “The Misfits” with Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. The race proved wildly popular, and today racers come from as far away as Australia, Africa and Saudi Arabia.

Though born of a hoax, the idea of camel races in Virginia City is not as preposterous as you might think. In fact, camels have a rather distinguished history in the West. The U.S. Army introduced camels to the Southwest in the mid 1800s, and in 1857 the short-lived Camel Corps led an expedition to the Colorado River. Later, silver miners used camels as pack animals to haul supplies across the arid land. In 1875, Nevada lawmakers had to ban camels from the roadways because they were spooking horses and cattle.

The wild and hilarious races are the centerpiece of a citywide festival that includes parades, camel rides, Old West demonstrations, horse-drawn carriage rides, clowns, belly dancers, a petting zoo and lots of crafts and games for the kids. It’s good fun for the whole family.

About a half-hour away, in Reno, the 24th Great Reno Balloon Race lifts off on the same weekend. Each day at 6:30 a.m., early-risers will witness a mass ascension of more than 100 colorful balloons. The morning sky decorated with these massive balloons is spectacular.

The main race is what balloonists call a Hound and Hare. Two balloons (the hares) are released and then the other hundred or so balloons (the hounds) rise up to chase them across the sky. The object is to bring your hound as close as possible to the landing spot of your hare, then throw down a bean bag where X marks the spot.

Glowing balloons / Great Reno Balloon Race

Even earlier in the morning, at 5:30 a.m., the Dawn Patrol takes off in the dark. The balloons glow with the bursts of flames used to heat the air that fill the balloons. The glowing orbs seem to magically dance across the sky. Dawn Patrol crews are made up of a handful of real balloon pros who know how to handle the tricky changes in air flow that occur as the sun rises later in the day.

If you can’t make it to Reno, Sparks or Virginia City for one of these events, come another weekend. I’m sure something fun will be happening.

Charles Leocha is nationally-recognized expert on saving money and the publisher of Tripso. He is also the Boston-based author of "SkiSnowboard America & Canada." E-mail him or visit his Web site. Want to sound off about one of his columns? Try visiting Leocha's forum.

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