Sept. 4th 2009 Heading to Fallon, NV.
A Visit to “Top Gun” fighter school in Fallon, NV

We woke up early the next morning in Folsom. I managed to get a really nice morning run in through the cool bike trails in Folsom. It was so pretty and the weather was perfect. We met up with Trenna’s family and friends for some breakfast and we were then on our way out. On to Fallon, NV! It was roughly a 3 hour drive and it was beautiful. We saw a lot of pretty rock formations and the sky got bigger and bigger as we drove further into the desert. We had fun on the trip, cracking jokes and listening to the radio, they have some cool stations out there, great music selection!
Today we were in for some more fun because we were not only going to be playing the Cantaloupe Festival in Fallon but we were actually going to go visit the Naval Air Station, Fallon Nevada. It where they have “Top Gun.” Top gun is where selected Navy Pilots go for even more extensive training in air combat. Top Gun had previously been located in Miramar, CA. but was moved to Fallon in 1996. I could easily see why with all of the vast stretch of desert and possibly due to a lot of our activity being desert oriented these days.
The minute we got into town, we were on our way to the airbase to check it out. Being a major military jet enthusiast, I was so excited! A Public Relations gentleman for the Navy greeted us. His name was “Zip.”
We were on our way up to the aircraft control tower! It was amazing! We went up an extremely steep flight of steps and there we saw all kinds of computers, monitors, radars and various Navy guys monitoring the systems and surrounded by a totally panoramic view of the runways and base. The officers were very know legible (thank goodness!) on all the happenings going on around them with the various fighter aircraft flying maneuvers and running drills. We’d just missed the F-22 stealth fighters the week before! Whaa! But we did see plenty of F-18’s, F-16’s , F-20’s and other planes. They painted some of these planes to simulate the enemy the pilot would be flying against. They also had a couple of enemy choppers. It was unbelievable. They were just finishing up training for the day and I actually got to help send a couple of jets up for wingman maneuvers! Everyone was so sweet to answer our questions and show us what equipment did what.

Afterwards, we took a walk through an outdoor museum of fighter jets, both friend and foe some back from Vietnam, some more modern. We took some cool pics!
We visited some of our men and women in uniform and then we were on our way to the Officers Club where we had a beer with the Commander of the base and others. It was a really neat place and everywhere you looked, you saw plaques of fighter pilots who graduated Top Gun, and plaques of memorials of pilots who’d fallen. It was like every team who’d been there had left their mark at the club. A lot of photos and even an ejection seat from an aircraft! Cool!
After the tour, we pretty much had the evening off to relax, go get a bite to eat.

Sat. Sept. 6th Gig at The Cantaloupe Festival Fallon, NV.
Horses and Cantaloupe Daiquiris, anyone?

Today was the day of our gig. We all just kind of went along at our own pace. Debbie and Trenna took a cool offer from Zip to go ride he and his Wife Nancy’s beautiful Arabian horses in the desert! From what I heard, they really liked to take off and go, and at sound check, Debbie and Trenna were walking with a slight “waddle.” But they had a wonderful time! They said that it was a little bit sandy out there, but it didn’t stop them from taking it in, well quite literally. Ha. I keep hearing the song line “ I’ve been in the desert on a horse with no name..,” ha. Okay, enough of that.
The festival was all about having a good time., we knew that as we pulled up and saw people playing mud volleyball. I wanted to do that! They had all kinds of food there, games and rides, but what really hooked some of us was when we were greeted by a nice bunch of ladies who brought us “cantaloupe daiquiris. Ha! How fun! So, our sound check was a little more “fruity.”
Afterwards, we went back to the hotel, some ate, some freshened up, and we went back to the festival and had a really fun show! The crowd was great and the eve was lovely. The desert full moon was out and it was grand. Afterwards, we got to meet with everyone and then we were whisked away back to the hotel because we had an early morning of travel. We were flying out of Reno. It’s been one heck of a cool weekend! What a blast! Thanks so much everyone for your kindness. We’ll see you again soon!