I’ve mentioned it before: the sensation that what you did this morning was several days ago. This morning we were in SLO. Tonite we’re in Coos Bay, OR and SLO seems like yesterday. The fact we were actually at home last night before leaving for SLO is really weird.
The flight? Well, no words. How about some pix?
1644 Wet Mouth
This broad river mouth you might recognize from the drive along Big Sur. Since the gals had almost all of the view (maybe Anne will share a few of her pix sometime), little spots like this where we cut across bits of coast that stick out gave me visual relief from the vast beautiful Pacific. It’s near the lighthouse (forget the name at the moment) and Bixby bridge.
1649 Bixby Bridge
The slight haze and ocassional fluffy wisps made the whole scene a soft caress. Monterey looked a lot better than this pic, but even this brings a quiet sigh from somewhere deep in my psyche.
1657 Monterey
Across the bay, Santa Cruz felt like yet another world and another day. Here’s the lighthouse, one of the few parts I got a good look at. When they’d offer having me fly inland a little so I could see the coast, I’d remind them of my plan to fly home the same route. I assume Joy will move to my side, so poor Anne will have an eyeful of the Pacific. 🙂
1676 Santa Cruz Light
San Fransisco was simply breathtaking, even from my side. Even so, this is one of the few pix I took because I did a slow climbing turn back toward the bridge to clear Mt. Tam and have my own look. Again Anne probably has some killer shots because she was much closer when we first passed the bridge.
1700 Golden Gate
I made this pic of the bridge a little bigger than the others in case you’d like to click and see the larger size. I didn’t snap many more pix until we were approaching Coos Bay and the etched colors in this wetland caught my fancy.
1716 Wetland Wonder
We missed most of the smoke, and nearly all of the clouds. Coos Bay was perfectly clear when we landed, and before we’d even bedded Tripp down for the night and walked inside there were puffy orange clouds gathering over the control tower. I like how the wide angle lens makes the tower seem to lean into our small plane terminal building as if cuddling up against the cool breeze.
1722 Coos Cuddle
By the time we settled into the hotel, the airport was reporting solid low (900′) overcast. Anne thinks I’m magic for having planned our arrival so perfectly. I didn’t tell her my head was full of alternatives all along our route as I watched weather and smoke oh so carefully. Nor did I mention that if the clearing forecast two hours before our departure tomorrow morning doesn’t materialize, we might be grounded here for weeks. But I’m thinking positively, and will dream deeply about clear skies and fair winds like those that filled our eyes and hearts with Joy today. 🙂
John & Anne Wiley 
Nice pictures. Should have flown closer to the bridge.
Comment by Zubair — 2012/08/09 @ 13:10