High, High, Up In the Sky! Day 1, Massachusetts

No matter how far I go, no matter where I go, I always LOVE to fly!  There's something wonderful about having a bird's eye view of our planet.  It's heavenly to float along the top of the world over the blanket of clouds.  I like the power of take-off and the risk of landing.

If I have time to shop between flights, I always look around the shops, although I rarely actually buy anything.  If there's time to eat between flights, I bite the bullet of ridiculously high prices and try something new.

It's especially fun to watch all the people rushing here and there, and to chat with some of them.  The bigger the airport, the better!  My favorite airports are Stansted, London, England, for more different nationalities than any I've ever seen, and Tel Aviv, Israel, for the incredible, thorough, no-nonsense security processes (SIX checkpoints in all!).

Welcome to Israel!  October, 2013.

I'm certainly not a fan of flying in bad weather and do everything to avoid flying in the winter, but I've had some interesting experiences!  - spending the night on a cot in the Chicago O'Hare airport due to icy weather in Louisville, Kentucky . . . spending hours on the runway while the air conditioning was fixed. . . watching (or avoiding to watch!) everyone else using the barf bags on a particularly bumpy winter trip. . .helping a woman who thought she was having a heart attack relax while the EMTs came to get her just before leaving (turns out that she coded in the ambulance).

So today I'm up in the air again: going to Boston, Massachusetts.  I'm visiting family, my daughter #5, Mary, her husband, Dave, and curly-headed son, Matthew.  Daughter #5, Theresa, is working nearby in Worcester, so we'll all get together!  And there are also Mary's in-laws, Dick and Ellen, Chris and Wendy with sons that I'd love to see, too.  Lots to look forward to!

All my seats are window seats so I hope to get some great photos.  One of my favorite views from up high was seeing the Ohio River for the first time: so many winding turns!  It was beautiful at dusk. Another indelible beautiful memory was flying up half the American east coast in the moonlight in a 12-seater plane.  My very favorite sight is when the lighthouse on the east coast of Ireland comes into view, after an all-night flight taking around eight hours.

First view of Irish Lighthouse, July, 2011.

So now I'm in Massachusetts, ready to settle down for the night after reaching the Providence, Rhode Island airport by way of starting out at the Blue Grass Airport, Lexington, Kentucky.  We were delayed on the runway for 20 minutes while they "cleaned up after a plane that landed had difficulties."  I had a delightful chat with Hal, from North Carolina about the pros and cons of living in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Home Airport, Lexington, Kentucky: comparatively small but very nice.

First stop: Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina. I barely made it to the second connecting flight here!  As I ran through the airport, there were plenty of folks in white rocking chairs under trees (inside!) enjoying the large shopping/dining area; the live piano music added an aura of festivity.  The trip from Charlotte was uneventful and my seatmate slept the whole way.  The area surrounding Charlotte is heavily forested, green, and beautiful from the air.

Second Stop: Ronald Reagan National Airport, Washington, D.C.  I had never passed through this airport on the edge of the Potomac River, directly across from the Capital.  I had time (once on the plane) to take photos.  Leaving the airport, we passed near the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery.  My seatmate, Jake, was from the D.C. area and kindly pointed out the sights from the air.

The Washington Monument, across from the Reagan Airport, Washington, D.C., August 6, 2014.

I had always wanted to come to this airport!

It was an easy, one-hour trip from Washington, D.C. to Providence, Rhode Island.  Since Mary lives to the south of Boston, it's faster for her to pick me up at the Providence Airport.  I enjoyed this air trip far more now that I've been reading in the National Geographic Magazine of the exploits in the early 1930's of those pioneering first airplane pilots.  I can't help but thinking how incredibly risky it was to fly without pressured cabins, without radar, flying only in daytime, in good weather, without communication systems, without even heat in the cockpits, but they did it!

All the clouds seemed especially beautiful on the trip today.  The sea of clouds, as seen from above them, was calm and fluffy.  Sometimes it was flat-looking.  Remember lying on your back as a child and figuring out what shapes the clouds above resembled?  Today I found lots of fluffy lambs and one long alligator!

Approaching Providence, Rhode Island, from the sea.

Almost to Mary's home!

After reaching home, Mary, Dave, Michael and I had take-out Mexican dinners, chatted about everything, and it's bedtime for us all.  Good-night!