Las Vegas, NV (USA)

Weather was great today - and flying made it even better! Saw some old friends and met Brian, who helped me get back in the saddle for our four legs. The WA-OR-CA mountain chain was very visible (and snow-covered!) but then the weather at altitude degraded all the way to San Diego. However, Coronado was almost cloud-free. Only on the ground for about 30 minutes before our next leg up to the San Francisco area. Saw the Golden Gate Bridge and most of the North Bay. Landed near Vacaville. Stop took a little longer because we ended up needing fuel but we were still on time when we left. Flight down to Las Vegas was interesting because we got to fly over China Lake and approached the city from the north. Saw cars driving on the raceway. Picked up our passengers and headed back to Washington after just a short stay. As we lined up we got a great view of the Strip. Weather a factor all the way to central (east) Oregon - but then saw everything from just south of the Columbia River. Came in just east of Mount Rainier and saw all of Puget Sound, Lake Washington, the Space Needle and Olympic Mountains - landing just after the sun set. I was really jazzed to have gotten some time in the plane after a nearly two month absence. Took care of all paperwork and then had dinner at Rice King. Played some video games and went to bed early (tired).