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Gas wells and pipeline<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Gas facility<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Gas facility<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Lake Berryessa<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Berryessa Dam<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dam and Glory Hole<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nI headed straight to Yolo county from the lake. Juvy and I had chosen this as the place to meet, primarily because it was called “YOLO” and that made us laugh. Juvy and her friend were waiting for me at the FBO as I landed. As well as their FBO setup, they had a large maintenance hangar devoted primarily to Cirrus aircraft. We jumped into the rental car (apparently the Jaguar had not been trusted to travel this far) and headed into Davis for lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n
FBO at Yolo County<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cirrus Service Center<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>#YOLO<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nDavis is home to UC Davis, one of the most well known public universities in the US, and was very obviously a student town. We ate lunch at a trendy crepe and yogurt bar, sitting out on the sidewalk in the autumn sunshine. Visiting towns like this always makes me nostalgic for the University lifestyle. Maybe one day there’ll be an opportunity to live somewhere like this again!<\/p>\n\n\n
Student town<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>#YOLO again<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Sacramento International<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nAfter a bit of walking around, Juvy’s friend dropped us back of at the airport, and we said our goodbyes to him. Juvy loaded her bags back in to the aircraft, and it was time to be off. We left Yolo County Airport and headed up into and across the Sierra Nevada mountains, towards Reno. We’d decided to fly in to the main Reno International airport, to make a change from the Tahoe airport that I had flown into with James in previous years. Signature flight support were as expensive as ever, charging extra fees to gouge people for the privilege of coming to the Reno Air Races, but we sucked it up. Little airplane like ours were banished to parking far from the FBO, on a closed runway, and we were given a golf cart ride to the main FBO building to collect our rental car and get on our way.<\/p>\n\n\n
Reno International<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Reno<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Driving up to the Sierras<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nOur first stop from the airport was the famous legal brothel, the Mustang Ranch. Before you think badly of me, this was Juvy’s idea, because she wanted to visit and learn a bit about the life style! We wandered in to the rather stereotypical bar area where it was very quiet indeed; a couple of ladies were hanging around and seemed happy to chat to Juvy and answer her questions while I nursed a glass of white wine. After a while, a gentleman came in and wanted to see a “line up” of all the girls currently working; we were offered the chance to sit in and watch (only the line up!!) and gladly accepted. I hung out in the bar while Juvy was given a behind the scenes tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had dinner at an Indian restaurant in Reno. That evening we made our way up Interstate 80 back into the Sierra Mountains and found a camp site, up high at “Emigrant Gap”. This late in the season, most sites were already closed down for winter, and it was a very cold evening up at altitude. Luckily we had the gear for it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The next day dawned clear and sunny once again. Juvy decided that she wanted a shower, but with the facilities closed down her options were limited. She ended up sending me off to a safe distance to watch the deer that were wandering around, while she stripped off and bathed herself from a freestanding water tap. I’m not entirely sure how she survived without freezing to death. With her morning ablutions completed we packed the campsite up and headed towards Reno Stead airport, home of the Reno air races! We managed to park not too far from the field, and walked the remaining half a mile or so to the gates.<\/p>\n\n\n
Morning over Emigrant Gap<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Juvy's camp site<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Deer in Emigrant Gap<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning in the Sierras<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning in the Sierras<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning in the Sierras<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning in the Sierras<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning in the Sierras<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Mountain sheep farming<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe Reno Air Races are the premium event of the air racing calendar. Started in 1964, the event features multi-lap, multi-aircraft races between extremely high performance aircraft in 6 different classes. The real highlight is the Unlimited class, dominated by highly modified World War Two fighter aircraft such as the P-51 Mustang. The all-time record speed is over 500 mph average around the curse. Between the races there are various other air displays featuring aerobatic and military aircraft. To accompany all the flying events, there’s an excellent ground show with countless stalls and display aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n
Parked near Reno<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Reno Air Races<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Aircraft on display<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>New Pilatus<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Breitling racer<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>F8F-2 Bearcat "Rare Bear"<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Hawker Sea Fury "Dreadnought"<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Grumman Tigercat<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>C-130 Hercules<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe spent the day wandering around enjoying the exhibits and marveling at the power of the racing aircraft. My favourite was the P51 Mustang fitted with a Griffon engine and dual counter-rotating propellers. We spent a while chatting with the people manning the Mission Aviation Fellowship stand about their work, and the flight around Africa the previous year. Some of their colleagues had helped out with work on the diesel C182 in Nairobi, as they operate quite a few of the type themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n
Coast Guard amphibian<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>P51 Mustang "Jelly Belly"<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>"Precious Metal"<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>"Precious Metal"<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Race line-up<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Spitfire<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe racing and air shows drew to a close, and we started to make our way towards the exit. A show worker in a golf cart caught sight of Juvy’s sling, and kindly offered us a lift to where we were going, so we rode the length of the airport on the back of his vehicle and headed back to the car. <\/p>\n\n\n
Racing in progress<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Old and new<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Display team<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Display team<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Display line-up<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>F-22<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThat evening we wandered around Reno, checking out a couple of the casinos but not gambling, before heading back to our chosen camp site at Emigrant Gap for another cold but peaceful night!<\/p>\n\n\n
Riding out of Reno Stead<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Reno at night<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
We drove back down I-80 to Reno International the next morning, and returned the car with Signature before getting a lift back out to the Arrow. Today we’d be starting the journey back east in earnest, with 3 planned legs totaling a little under 1,000 miles taking us as far as South Dakota. We’d chosen to take a northerly route for the return, for a change of scenery and to visit some states that neither of us had visited before. There were still a horde of aircraft parked up along both sides of the closed runway; we were leaving before the final days of the Air Races, and so more aircraft were still arriving than leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n
Traffic departing Reno<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The parking lot<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe departed off the southerly runway, and turned left on course. This part of Nevada is dry and mountainous, and today it was fairly hazy over the first part of the route. For as far as the eye could see (which was not that far) in every direction there was nothing but desert and small mountain ranges, interspersed with the occasional dry lake bed. Once in a while we’d come across a sign of human activity, such as a trail, quarry, or area of irrigation as somebody tried to eke some productivity out of the sand and rock.<\/p>\n\n\n
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