Sometimes things turn out differently than we imagine. We start the day dreaming of a stop in Boise for lunch with our precious friend, and an interesting easy flight to San Jose. Looking out the window of our Spokane hotel, noticing the gathering clouds we begin to wonder what will come from this difference from the forecast. Looking online, it soon became clear the day would involve some change.
After a quick tour through beautiful Spokane on the way back to the airport, we changed to a nearly direct route to San Jose.
5864 Farewell Spokane
We soon discovered another change from the forecast: strong headwinds. Flying at our normal speed we weren’t going much faster than cars on the freeway. Of course, they had to bend many miles this way and that while our route was a straight line in most places. When we went through mountains, I more closely followed the highways as an extra safety measure. In that terrain with lots of snow and trees, it adds landing options near helpful people and most airports are dotted along highways. Sometimes I imagine what it was like for barnstormers whose planes weren’t so reliable and when highways and airports were very rare. Unlike the forecast, we only saw the sun a few times. But we did of course see lots of spectacular sights from a vantage point those cars on the highway couldn’t imagine.
5868 Lake Abert
We started off with ample fuel to reach San Jose, because Tripp gets great mileage and has large tanks. The headwinds of course changed that, and we decided to stop in Alturas, CA near the Oregon border just South of Goose Lake at the eastern corner. Opening the door my vision of warm California instantly changed to remembering Winter in high desert is not warm (15mph wind blowing across snowy fields at 35F). A shortcut we planned from there through Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Forrest changed when I noted the road wasn’t plowed, so we didn’t turn direct to San Jose until near Redding. By then it was getting dark, so the brilliant lights of I-5 were a welcome sight.
This morning waking in San Jose, the sun was out. What a change this is! Balmy air and brilliant colors! Anne was literally jumping up and down when we opened the window in our sister’s cozy home. Change makes life interesting. 🙂
John & Anne Wiley 
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