My ride to San Francisco — A320

12 April, 2014

Sitting on the rear balcony of a cabin by Clear Lake for my last weekend in California, I am loving the birdsong and sunshine of this cloudless 72 degree day. I will get back to today later, though. This journey started just over a week ago, and there is much to relate in words and pictures.

The view from 31A

This trip started nine days ago on a snowy Colorado Thursday morning. The remnants of the nights’ storm made for a bumpy climb out of Denver, and across the Rockies the broken clouds obscured the view I had hoped for when I booked my seat on the south side of the airplane. I was able to photograph the Rockies and a few ski areas on my flight west – Arapahoe Basin, Beaver Creek, and a brief glimpse of Vail. I was surprised watching the clock to see that we made it to Glenwood Springs in about thirty minutes. Entering Utah, the skies were hazy and the flight path was too far north to see Canyonlands.

I-70 at Georgetown

Snow capped peaks in the area of Berthoud Pass

Arapahoe Basin

Breckenridge

Summit County and Lake Dillon

Beaver Creek

A glimpse of Vail

We crossed into California in the Tahoe area, and the geological colors of the desert turned to the lush green mountains of the Sierra Nevada. By this time I had put the camera away, and we were quickly in the initial approach coming into the Bay Area over San Jose. As we crossed over the threshold of the runway, there was an Air France A380 waiting to depart on the same runway we landed on. Seeing this behemoth for the first time, I was amazed at its gargantuan proportions. It is an absolutely mammoth airliner.

Emerging from the baggage claim to the outside, it was such a wonderful treat to step into summertime temperatures. I rode the BART into San Francisco and met my friend at her school. We got back on the train to cross under the city and the bay to El Cerrito, just north of Berkeley, where she lives. After a long day of travel, it was so nice to see my best friend again after almost a year since she moved to California.