Los Angeles

Work brought me there this week, and my co-worker summed it up pretty nicely.

It's an endless suburb, with industrial parks mixed in.


What an awful place. We stayed in Huntington Beach... which I guess is alright. There was a Dairy Queen and a decent Italian place within walking distance of the hotel.

The only time we saw the beach was at 6am each morning.


and at 8pm-ish; when we got back to the hotel.


Other than that, our time was spent sitting in conference rooms and in the rental car (in order to get to said conference room). The highlight of LA was probably seeing this row of A380's at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.


The best part of the trip? Heading home...


My next trip will be on this guy's big brother!

The High One

We wrapped up the trip with a day at Denali National Park and Reserve. The word "Denali" means "the high one" in the native Athabaskan language and refers to Mount McKinley.

Denali is different from other parks in that it is only accessible by bus. There is one road that this bus follows, and one can get dropped off anywhere along that road.

Unlike the other days, it was rainy, cloudy, and cold...

^can you spot the wildlife???

Caribou


Dall Sheep


We got off at Toklat, and hiked along the Toklat River...


Toklat River Valley with Divide Mountain on the left. On the way back, the rain stopped and it started to clear up.


The next day, smoke and haze from the Funny River fire arrived...



ANC was especially hazy, but it also had some pretty slick planespotting opportunities as it is a major air cargo hub.

If you notice, the Alaska Airlines jet doesn't have windows in the front of the emergency exit. This is a B737-400C, and is used for used for salmon shipments (and other stuff).

^relevant airlines...

A Cathay Pacific Cargo B747-8F sitting next to the EVA B747-400F


A Conoco-Philips B737-76N(WL). Ewww...


It was a hazy flight back to SEA.

The Last Frontier

So United operates flights to ANC in the summer.
They also had a fare sale, so I went.


Chasing the Midnight Sun






Anchorage at 11:41pm.


We woke up early for some suburban wildlife spotting

^the neighborhood moose... crosses streets safely...


Then we ventured off to the Matanuska Glacier






Did I mention the GREAT views?!


Next up, a flightseeing tour of Mt. McKinley courtesy of K2 Aviation!


I played co-pilot.


The Alaska Range






The smoothest landing. EVER.


Don Sheldon Amphitheater


It was a good first day.

Bay Area Christmas!!!

My sister declared that her and family couldn't make it to both Dallas and Palo Alto for Christmas. Thus, all families converged in sunny California.

Day 1: We spent Christmas as the Fajardo's. Presenting the talkative and easily distracted nephew:


Day 2: We drove into San Francisco to explore. It was sunny and 70-deg F.


Just outside of Chinatown.


Get that shot! (on Telegraph Hill)


More from the hill...






Day 3: We went to Muir Woods








Day 4: Spent in Palo Alto, exploring the university area.
Day 5: Watched the Cowboys not come through as usual...
Day 6: SFO had an exhibit on Japanese toys. I liked the posters.

B-KQG

My third program delivered today! I was spotting from the opposite end of the runway this time, where I met a journalist from Airline Reporter. We talked shop while waiting for the 77H to leave the EDC.

This end of KPAE allowed us to catch the bird taxi onto the runway...


...and spool up those ridiculous GE90's


...to jet off to HKG.


There were no shenanigans this time around :-(


I'll be on one of these in a few weeks   :-)