California, Part 1

(This is a long one, with lots of pictures. Get comfy.)

My flight to California left on Wednesday at 3:20. I got to the airport around 2--not quite the "2 hours in advance" that they advise, but close enough. Naturally, I flew through security and just sat and sat and sat. But the flight took off on time, so that was good. It was a fairly short flight to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh seemed like a nice airport, but I didn't have a lot of time to check it out, since I only had a half-hour layover. By the time I got off the plane and hiked to the gate I needed, that flight was already boarding. I wasn't running late or anything, but I figured it was better to just go ahead and board as soon as I could.

I toted along 4 books to keep me occupied on my journey, but I also (very wisely) brought along a small, blank notebook. It came in handy on the long flight from Pittsburgh to Phoenix, when I got tired of reading. Here's the entry I wrote during the flight....

---

It's a big plane--3 seats, an aisle, and 3 more seats. And they're pretty comfortable, too.

There is a movie. But it's Prince Caspian, which I've already seen. Plus, headphones cost $5. Maybe on the way back. The US Airways magazine says eastbound flights are showing What Happens in Vegas. Haven't seen that one.

We're about halfway through the flight now, and I'm peeking out the window. I wish the pilot would tell us where we are. Whatever state we are over right now, I know it's one I've never seen. Maybe it's Nebraska. I've always wanted to go there. (I just say that to be silly.)

It's very, very flat out there. But hundreds of little strips of water break up the monotony. The landscape is cut into hundreds of neat little squares. It's all so symmetrical.

The plane is rocking and wobbling, and the captain has just made his generic "hey, there's turbulence--put on your seatbelt" speech. That's nice, but... where are we? (Maybe he doesn't know.)

Prince Caspian is in one of its Epic Battle Scenes. I know there was more than one, though, so this doesn't help me figure out if the movie is almost over. Not that it matters. There will still be a good chunk of flight time left when it is.

If we do fly over the Grand Canyon, the captain had better announce that. With my luck, it would be visible from the other side of the plane.

I killed some time with the puzzles in the US Airways magazine--2 crosswords and a couple of other word-related ones. I sucked at the crosswords (which was not surprising), but did really well on the others. I'm fairly impressed with myself right now.

Oh, snap. The trees just got involved in the Epic Battle Scene. It is on now, bad guys.

Another peek out the window, and I see that all the squares have circles inside them now. It's like looking at a thousand little pie graphs. No crop circles, though. Oooh, now I see some of them new-fangled 3-bladed windmills. Not sure why that excites me.

Where did they film this Narnia movie? That beach is stunning. To think, I'll be seeing similar white-sand, turquoise-water beaches myself in less that 2 months.

Wow--mountains. Tons of them. And they're brown. I'm so used to green ones. These can't be the Rockies... can they? (Note to self: Brush up on knowledge of U.S. geography.) On second thought, they could be just hills--it's so hard to determine perspective from way up here. Either way, it's a very different landscape for me to ogle.

Clouds--go away.

I see another plane in the distance, going the opposite direction. Holy crap, that sucker is moving. It doesn't seem possible that this plane is flying just as quickly--especially when the ground seems to be merely crawling by.

Clouds--seriously. Back off. Oh fine, just surround the plane now. Be that way. I suppose you're going to act like you have nothing to do with that turbulence right now, huh?

More mountains. They are a little greener now, but these mountains are Not Kidding Around--they are huge. These must be the Rockies, since we're less than 30 minutes away from landing in Phoenix.

Wow. This is really beautiful.

Captain said something about it being very windy this time of year. And I suddenly remember someone warning me to be prepared for a rough landing in Phoenix. This will be fun.

. . .

Pfft--that was nothing.

I see palm trees!

Hello, Phoenix.

---

I had about an hour layover in Phoenix, which turned into 2 hours since our plane was late arriving, and then needed maintenance. It was a bit annoying, but then again, I'd rather know the plane was functioning properly before we take off. And if there's anywhere to get delayed, it's better at the end of the trip, where you don't have to worry about missing any connections. It was another tiny plane that we rode to Monterey, and we got in about an hour later than scheduled. Eden met me at the airport and gave me a ride back to their place. It was about 11 PM, so it was much too dark to see anything on the drive.

The next morning, we were all up early for Steve's graduation ceremony. I took a picture of him before we left the house, just in case I forgot to get a good picture of him alone later.



At the ceremony, Steve was one of 2 students who were also receiving their Associate's degree. This is the colonel presenting him with his diploma.



And here he is later, receiving his certificates for completing the linguist program.



The ceremony was very nice--there were men and women from all different branches of the military who were graduating--27 total, I think. I got to meet several of Steve's classmates before and after the ceremony. After the ceremony, all the Air Force people decided they wanted a picture together. First, they did a serious one, but then they did a couple goofy ones...





Here's me, with Eden and Steve.



And Eden and Steve (I think this picture is so cute.)



And here's me and Steve. (Hard to believe he's 5 years younger than me, huh?)



We went back home to get Olyvia (she had stayed home with a sitter), then went to lunch at a delicious little crepe place in downtown Monterey, along Cannery Row. After we ate, we walked around, and I had to make sure to snap a picture of a palm tree. I adore palm trees.



As you can see, it was a cloudy day (yet, somehow, bright enough for me to want to wear sunglasses outdoors), but in spite of that, the views were still gorgeous. I can only imagine how much better they would have looked in the sun's light.



We walked through a lot of the indoor shops too. This area reminded me so much of Inner Harbor in Baltimore--just the way it was all set up, with the indoor shops and the places along the shore. But one of the big differences was the Spanish architecture of the buildings.

I snapped these pictures of Steve and Lyvi while we shopped.



Mom and Dad supplied me with some extra spending money to take Steve, Eden and Lyvi out to dinner to celebrate his graduation, and Steve picked a little Mediterranean restaurant that they had never tried before. Lyvi sampled the lemon in her water, and this was her reaction:



But the silly girl kept tasting them. I got a nice family shot...



We got hummus as an appetizer, and Lyvi was thrilled with her "dip-it." She enjoyed it so much that she got it all over herself.



I even took a picture of my food--kefta-kabobs with veggies and rice. It was sooooo incredibly delicious, and it made me miss my mom's awesome Persian cooking.



After dinner, we went for a walk on Del Monte Beach. My first order of business was to dip my feet in the Pacific Ocean (which was warmer than I expected it to be, based on the cool, cloudy weather), and get the picture to prove it.



We walked along the beach for quite a while, and even though it was a bit chilly, I loved it. My favorite thing about the beach isn't the sun or the water or the waves--it's just walking along the edge of the water, taking it all in. When we lived in Florida, Tony and I used to go walking on the beach at night--it was so perfect.

I love this picture of Steve, Eden, and Lyvi.



Lyvi just loved the water, and spent nearly the entire time just running in and out of the waves and getting herself soaked all the way up to her waist.



And I'll end with a few more shots of the beach...







Stay tuned for Part 2!