Looking back at Oakhurst (gateway to Yosemite) as we drive up the ridge. Heading home.
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Vinyards in the central California valley zip past as we head to Fresno
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Oh, a guy in a car, with shades and bifocals. Is that you, Narcissus?
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The Sequoia Grove in the Fresno Int'l Airport
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Afterburners. He must be in a hurry.
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Creature comforts or vital necessities?
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The TSA agent was happy to stamp us as pre-check approved, even though they didn't have a separate line. But we did get to keep our shoes on and laptop in the case.
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A mild bounce on landing. I took many shots of various size planes burning rubber. But this seemed a proper complement to the one I chose to show of a plane taking off.
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I've been wondering what this yellow tube is for. It appears to be mounted to some HVAC thingy. Any ideas?
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Standing pat in front of our little plane. Note the marks on the pavement indicating where the front wheels of various model planes should stop.
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Not much overhead room.
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As I was sitting on the west side, I had to shoot across 4 seats and an aisle to see the mountains.
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Is this a solar farm?
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These littler planes can bank more dramatically than the big boys. We are turning toward the ocean over the desert as we approach Los Angeles.
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This is pretty much what Karen sees of me when we fly. Less the ubiquitous camera, don't you know.
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Downtown L.A.
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This view just says L.A. to me.
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Our modern little ADA compatible ramp, so we don't have to walk down the 4 steps from the plane.
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The line for shuttles to get from Gate 44 to the main terminal was all around the cattle maze and around the corner and down the terminal. Apparently a bus was taken out of service.
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While waiting to depart, I played with the seat back display in the big plane for the long hop. It shows our proposed path in yellow, disregarding surface obstacles like buldings.
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Proof that we are in L.A, and that Alaska Airlines has more fun planes.
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The green is our actual trip, the yellow the flight plan. We have just lifted off.
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I always like to see the wind farms on I-10. We've driven past them a number of times. I took quite a few pix of them as we passed. Mercifully, here is just one.
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We passed over another plane
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A snow capped mountain in the desert.
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Kenney had just been here. I hadn't been there since the mid 1990's. But it was nice to see this divot in the desert again, even from 30,000 feet.Note the cloud to the left of the crater? It's shadow is on the right edge of the picture. This is very late afternoon.
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A closer look
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And a wider view
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The custom napkin amused me. Maybe it was the altitude
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Clouds built up as the sun set. I'd see occasional bits of canyons through gaps. They seemed brighter than pictures could quite capture.
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The shadow on the wing is from the tail of our A319. We are heading exactly away from the sun.
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A last look down at a striated canyon wall, glowing electrically in the last of the light from the setting sun
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A last look down at a striated canyon wall, glowing electrically in the last of the light from the setting sun. A wider view for cover picture use on FaceBook.
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You know how you look up after sunset and peer past the purple clouds and see the bright orange glint of a plane high above?Hi!
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Sunset looking north. Note the shadows on the wing.
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The last of the light fades. The red and white strobes flash at different times. I hand held this shot for several seconds to get the light of both in one exposure.
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Almost home
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It was a smooth landing, despite the wiggly lines you see. On the other hand, full flaps and full spoilers do jog the hand a bit.
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Peering through the gap between the fully lowered flaps and the raised spoilers to see the runway under the wing.
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Waiting at the far western teminal of the local light rail system for the trai to take us back to town.
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