My Pacific Northwest

My flight back from Alaska has been a surprisingly pleasant experience.  I left Kenai, AK at 10:30pm, almost missing my flight (thanks Chris).  Despite it being so late, my flight left with the sunset, and I watched a golden sky shine behind the mountains, reflecting on the bay below us.  The leftover blue sky always reflected in the water, but it must have also been slightly foggy on the water because the reflection danced as though there were northern lights in the water.  It was gorgeous.

Like usual, I had trouble sleeping on my redeye out of Anchorage.  I don’t sleep well on planes, It’s cool.  I startled myself awake toward the end of the flight, and was rewarded with a crystal clear night sky.  I felt like I could touch the constellations.  I played with them in my head, touching them one by one, and then I noticed on the horizon a slight glow.  It was 4:30am, and to my surprise, the start of sunrise.  I smiled as the stars I was so focused on suddenly shared their early morning glow with a new visitor.

As we descended into Seattle, WA, the sunrise glow faded as we dropped in altitude.  I watched for the sun to rise again as I waited to get on my next flight.

My flight out of Washington is why I find myself writing.  I have never been to the Pacific NW, though it’s been a place I’ve always wanted to not only visit, but live, work and play in.  It’s always been more of a fantasy though.  I’ve never really seen the mountains or the forests there.  A few pictures, but I’ve always had my mind set on the Rockies.  Having worked and played there, it’s a familiar location.  But the Pacific NW is this unknown, filled with an endless amount of possibilities.

As my plane took off from Seattle, the sun was beginning to rise behind the mountains.  We shyed away from them at first, but then began flying over what seemed like an endless amount of peaks.  Mountains and peaks always look different from the sky.  These ones must have been gigantic.  It seemed as though our plane could have flown through the valleys and near the streams without losing much elevation.  I know this wasn’t the case, but the mountain peaks seemed to reach up and caress the sky.  Mammoth rock faces coated in a snowy happiness waved hello.  Valleys were enveloped in thick fog.  Vast expanses of unbroken wilderness touch every corner possible.  Even from the sky, I could feel the solitude.

I hope I do end up in this area, one day. 

A spring to every winter,

A sunrise to every sunset,

A solution to every problem.