Mavericks

Just a quick post to say that Rachel is a trooper. If she had told me that one of her friends was going to hurtle us through the air in a plane the size of a Disney ride and would take our lives into his hands flying low over cities, then over open water, and plunk us down on the landing strip, I might not have okayed that. Obviously, I know and trust Dan, so the only thing I was worried about was the landing (j/k, Dan!), but kudos to Rachel, who went all in on blind faith.

In other news, I was a little bummed that we didn't get to pick our own call sign. I was under the impression that we could tell the tower that we'd like to be 'Maverick' today, a la Top Gun. I know that it's a little cliche to go the Tom Cruise route, but Goose and Icegirl did not seem like appropriate choices. But Dan told us that we had already been assigned "SKyHawk 2750 November" and we should listen carefully for the tower in case we were about to bump into the many jetliners or helicopters trolling around SFO airspace. You can imagine that the cockpit got very quiet anytime 'November' came up-- Rachel and I were taking no chances. I really wish we could have recorded the chatter over the radio--- hearing Dan say that he was requesting clearance to "taxi with Charlie" or "clear the option" was mystifying and impressive all at once. You might actually think he was experienced at this or something.

Anyway, we survived our first adventure. There's more risky business ahead.

Up In The Air

Somehow Amanda and I have spent a day and a half in the Bay Area without seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Warf--any of it. But we did get a view of the Bay Area that almost no one else experiences.

A good friend of Pens', Dan, learned how to fly small planes, just for fun, and his training base is the Palo Alto airfield. It's a tiny strip of land sandwiched between San Francisco Bay and a whole lot of golf courses. He took us up in a Cessna Skyhawk that's no bigger than a car (I thought often of Harry Potter's flying car and that tree they landed in...).

(Yes, Amanda's wearing aviator sunglasses)

For about an hour we flew over Stanford U. (it's amazing how many people in Palo Alto have their own tennis courts, next to their own swimming pools), north over the 101 to San Francisco, then circled over the city, lower and lower, until it seemed like we could easily land on a skyscraper.

Then we flew over the Bay Bridge to Oakland and back across the bay to Palo Alto, landing again on that narrow strip of land, safe and sound.

Check out this photo from above the City by the Bay: I used to think Coit Tower was a great vantage point to see San Fran. Then I got that vantage point on Coit Tower.

We also took video and audio but are having trouble uploading...there may be an update tomorrow...

Observations from a day of traveling:

Some people just need someone to talk to. The man next to me on my second flight started a conversation by telling me that he'd never been apart from his wife for more than a night since they got married. Later in the conversation he tried to convert me to Christianity.

Southwest Airlines is not quite as perfect as I thought: The free peanut packet? It only had four peanuts in it. Four. That's, like, peanuts! In general their whole snack system is toootally quantity over quality.

Looking classy while traveling is harder than it looks. Amanda's blistery feet and my inexplicable black-ish leggings are testament to that. Hats off to you, ladies in high heels and men in suits. I can't say I remember the time when people dressed up to fly, but I am nostalgic for it.

And last but not least, you can see half dome from the airplane (at least according to my evangelist). Amanda and I will be attempting the ascent on Thursday! More on that later...for now, check out this photo:

Amanda is trip MVP (before it even starts!)

"everyone remember your passport!!!"

That e-mail was a gift from the heavens, saving a crucial part of the trip for me, and presumably for the others, as well. Like Amanda had included one exclamation point for each of the three of us.

Vancouver is actually the place I'm most excited to experience; I've only been to the airport there--never into town--and it's not a place I anticipate visiting again soon. And since we live in a post-9/11 world, the border would've been closed without that little blue book.

So, now that my passport is packed, I'm nearly ready to go. Adventure starts tomorrow!!!

p.s. If anyone can recommend good books to read while traveling, hit up the comments section.

Every Woman for Herself

There are worse ways to go, I suppose, than to be gored by such a furry creature. Thank goodness you can carry guns in National Parks these days.

The Route /raʊt/

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San Francisco

Palo Alto

Yosemite

Mount Shasta

Portland

Olympic National Park

Vancouver

Seattle

West Coast Bound

And some time make the time to drive out west

Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,

In September or October, when the wind

And the light are working off each other

So that the ocean on one side is wild

With foam and glitter, and inland among stones

The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit

By the earthed lightening of a flock of swans,

Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white,

Their fully grown headstrong-looking heads

Tucked or cresting or busy underwater.

Useless to think you'll park and capture it

More thoroughly. You are neither here nor there,

A hurry through which known and strange things pass

As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways

And catch the heart off guard and blow it open

-"Postscript"

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Seamus Heaney probably meant a different west coast than the one we'll be traveling along but nevertheless we are taking heed.