John & Anne Wiley

2016/09/14

Smoke Signal Adventure

Anne’s “Flying Home” post introduced our first Big Adventure since “Islander” in three years, when we flew the Bahamas. This new one I’m calling the “Smoke Signal” Adventure was familiar after so many flights since 2006 and part of that is how unique each Adventure is, including discoveries of new expressions like this on the face of our planet.

1517 Familiar Discovery

1517 Familiar Discovery

It had grown increasingly surprising to us that it’s been so long, but suddenly something powerful got us moving and we took off. Unlike earlier Adventures we hesitated for many months trying to decide whether to go. Part of the problem is smoke, like this uncorrected view toward the West from the Sacramento area where the above corrected beauty was taken.

1522 Sac Smoke

1522 Sac Smoke

Our part of the world is declared to be in Exceptional Drought, and around here that means wildfires like the local Rey, Sherpa, and countless other big fires around CA. The smoke from all that burning makes flying more complicated and less fun. But it’s still fun to look more straight down and away from the sun because our brains correct for the smoke to present interesting things like this.

1524 Franklin Airport

1524 Franklin Airport

Just off the bottom of the pic are a waste water treatment plant and a prison. All we noticed in flight was the airport tempting us to land, but looking at full-resolution pix to discover the adjoining facilities adds a note of curiosity about what it would’ve been like. Nearby this bright feature triggered a shutter press.

1527 Painted Pond

1527 Painted Pond

We wondered what “painted” the pond that beautiful turquoise, and now pondering in detail we’re guessing it’s used for boat races. There are shelters where fans can watch, and a swimming pool next to a smaller pond where people can cool off.

Sometimes a feature we’ve snapped remains enigmatic until we’ve not only examined the pix in detail but googled it. This one that looks like an outdoor theater for boaters defied all attempts for an hour. It’s on the Sacramento River Bike Trail next to the freeway, but gMaps only identified the Bill Conlin Sports Complex across the small street at the left. Finally I decided it’s a fresh water facility and found out it’s the Freeport Water Intake in the Sac burb of Meadowview.

1553 Water Theater

1553 Water Theater

In case you’re still not clear about that powerful “something” that finally got us flying toward the North, it’s partly detailed in Anne’s post and in this pic. To me that’s a heart-shaped grove of trees next to the river.

1564 Power Of Love

1564 Power Of Love

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