***Excuse typos! I’m typing on my mom’s laptop and her keyboard isn’t exactly the best! Different keys only work, well, sometimes!
In the past, I’ve posted about being, at times, conflicted about living in Oregon–or at least the Portland metro area. However, there is one place* that will always make me grateful for being an Oregonian. That place, my friends, is Los Angeles.
There is a Southwest flight that I like to take when I visit my parents sans Carmel. It starts in Portland, lands in San Jose, lands in Los Angeles and then finally Tucson (well, “finally” for me. The flight actually continues on to Chicago Midway and Cleveland). Portland is a beautiful city to fly in and out of–the city itself is an oasis in a sea of green and then you get to Mt. Hood, which is an awesome sight as it pierces through the cloud cover (most of the year) or stands above the neighboring range (rare sunny days like I experienced yesterday).
San Jose–well, the Bay Area in general–isn’t bad, but less green. However, it seems as though the Urban Sprawl of LA seems to start right as the plane hits its cruising altitude out of San Jose. Okay, maybe it isn’t that soon, but I’m trying to make a point, so deal with it.
Every single time I’ve flown into LAX, it has been overcast, or so they claim. See, I fly in and out of Portland, so I know what overcast looks like. Clouds are fluffy and white. The ”Orange Mist” in the Southern California skies is not overcast. Trust me.
Unlike flying into many other cities, you do see some “surrounding countryside” as you descend. Nope, not Los Angeles. Houses, buildings and freeways as far as the eye can see. And not a single speck of green. Now, before my Los Angelino readers get up in arms on this, I will admit that I have many relatives in the area (not in LA proper, but in the SoCal sprawl) and, yes, there are trees and landscaping. But, from the sky as you descend into LAX, they are out of site.
Now, I won’t say it is all a downer. There are things you see over LA you won’t see anywhere else. On this trip, I looked own and say about 1/8 of the Colliseum (the one in Rome). It was surrounded by large green screens, lights and trailers. Methinks the Gladiators may be coming back to a theater near you soon!
* To be fair, Los Angeles is not the only city that makes me feel relieved to live in the Portland Metro area. Boston does too, and New York City–but those are at least interesting cities when you are flying by!
