Home Again

For the second time in less than 2 weeks I found myself using my map skills as I looked out the plane window and tried to determine which state we were crossing. After a much too quick visit to Baton Rouge where we enjoyed Mardi Gras, a tour of LSU where our daughter teaches and way too much cajun and creole food, we spent a few days visiting friends in Dallas and then winged our way home. It was hardly warm in those southern states but we did have a few days in the 70's ... much appreciated when we hit the 24 degrees and 8 inches of snow outside the airport here!

But back to maps. I love them. There's something about matching what I see on the ground with the memory of the maps I study that really appeals to me. I'm pretty sure we crossed directly over the Chesapeake Bay, the Delmarva peninsula (which we used to drive on trips home from Norfolk in our Navy days) and then over the Delaware Bay with a great view of Cape May, NJ. We flew straight up through the heart of New Jersey and I spotted NYC off in the distance to the east. It was a quick half hour up the Connecticut coast and inland along Narragansett Bay to our destination. I've been able to identify beaches and bridges and lighthouses ect. for many years now but the bird's eye view is still a delight. And sometimes the trip is even more wonder full. On the last leg of our earlier trip we flew from Philadelphia to RI just after sunset. It was a clear night with a full moon rising over the Atlantic. Absolutely spectacular! Every body of water and there are many in this little state, reflected the moon's light in flashes of silver. The string of lights from bridges and rotating lights from lighthouses dotting the shoreline added there own special effect. As often as I have made the trip over the bay before, nothing can compare to this one.