The View

This has nothing to do with the TV show The View. This is all about the view from an airplane. Recently I took a trip to San Diego, CA to see my oldest grandson graduate from Marine Corps basic training. This was my second trip by airplane and both were to the west coast. My first trip was 14 years ago to Seattle, WA, followed by a car ride to Oak Harbor to visit the same grandson, his brother, mom & dad. I really enjoy flying. It is always the connections that make me nervous.

This trip we boarded in Raleigh, NC on time & with no problem. However, as everyone settled in the pilot announced that we would have an hour delay because of low visibility in Chicago, where our connecting flight to San Diego was to be. Some people chose to disembark and try other connecting flights. It actually left an empty seat next to me. My daughter & youngest grandson had an empty seat between them. My way to fly! Of course, this meant we would miss our connecting flight. NOOO! Fifty-five minutes later we were off. It was a little bumpy but nothing frightening. The clouds were gorgeous. Of course I am a cloud freak.

I had to remind myself that I wasn't looking at the Antarctic & I couldn't get out & walk no matter how much it looked like ocean, snow, & ice peaks.

As we neared Chicago visibility became pretty low & the landing was a little rough. The pilot announced that we would make our connection & again apologized for the bumpy flight. Make our connection? Just! We literally walked out the gate, crossed the isle, & boarded our next flight. Thank you, Lord! No elbow room now. With the exception of the sites out the window, it was a most uncomfortable flight. As I was in the center seat I did not get to see as much as I would have liked. One of the young men next to me insisted on having the window cover low so he could play on his computer. So I obliged. With my head lowered to see out the small area, I did see some pretty sites and thought about how awesome our God is to have created such beauty. Just couldn't take pictures of them. The young man in the window seat slept from take off till shortly before we reached San Diego. When he did wake up the first thing he did was look out the window & raise the cover. YES!!!! So I was able to get a few not-so-great photos, which for some reason I can't upload here. But I did get a great view of San Diego. It felt like we were just hovering over the city.

It was great to see my grandson and spend some time just enjoying the family together. And of course, graduation day was very moving & I am so proud of him. Even though we didn't see a lot of San Diego itself, what we did see was beautiful. 

The morning we left was sad. We have no idea when we will get to see him again. Because he had moved to Colorado to live his senior high school year with his dad, that is his state of residence as far as the USMC is concerned. He will be stationed on the east coast for a year as he receives more training so hopefully we will see him during that time. As we waited to board the shuttle to take us to the airport where we would board a flight to Dallas-Fort Worth and then back to Raleigh, I took the last picture of our trip. In fact, several people were taking the same photo & still talking about it as we left. A beautiful sunrise. The shuttle driver said they don't see many like that in San Diego. He didn't say why. It was really a reverent attitude. I think you will see why.

So even with the little irritants, it was a great trip. One I will never regret taking. My prayer as we started off on each new flight was that God would surround the pilots & planes with a protective hedge and He did. I hope to make a trip across the pond to England & Scotland in the not too distance future. Can't even imagine the beauty I might see. So I'm enjoying the beauty here, till He calls me to the beauty of heaven.