John & Anne Wiley

Sometimes flying I feel as if the Happy Police are going to pop out from behind a cloud and arrest us for having too much fun. It’s simply amazing how often we’re experiencing raging bliss while aloft. Sure, I’ve said it a million times, but words just don’t measure up. Alas, nor do pix, yet I keep trying. 🙂

Here’s an example. What we saw is somewhat represented by this, but the camera brings out haze we didn’t even see and words fog up the memory of the joy elicited within our hearts.

1762 Canon Beach

Now maybe some of you have driven along this beach as we have. Breathtaking to be sure. But from the air, despite this uninspiring pic, it’s transcendent. This does at least capture some of the serenity it evokes. As with almost all of our flight, the gals had the views and photo ops. But the OR coast does have lots of rocks offshore that passed on my side, and you DO know about my fascination with rocks. 🙂

1754 Holey Brothers

I was happy to have caught this angle that shows how both islets are holed all the way thru. This next one looks like the one without cave could almost fit like a puzzle piece into the other.

1760 Fitting Islets

I like how the pelican V complements this pointy rock next to the Morro Rock miniature at Canon Beach.

1770 Pelican Parade

The colors were constantly changing as two layers of clouds played with the light, and as our angle in relation to the sun moved. But the water itself was different colors at different places along the coast. My fave pic of the water is this view most people never see, past the back side of the rocks toward the beach.

1787 Canon Beach Backside

If you click to see the large version, you can make out a lifeguard vehicle and a bunch of people doing something in the shallow water. Further offshore is another island with a lighthouse, and a very different patina.

1793 Heavy Guano Light

The birds have coated it so heavily, it shone bright white in the flashes of sunlight thru the clouds. I don’t know if it’s true, but I developed a theory that the islands further offshore tend to have smoother shapes. The idea is that birds favor rocks where few other animals (esp. predators) venture. Over millennia the acid in bird droppings eats away at the rock so that it is worn smooth by rain and weather more quickly than rocks near shore where few birds nest. So you can see that part of the fun is thinking about stuff like this. Altogether, it’s just too much fun.

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. 🙂