The Nice Ride Home

We woke up at 6 AM this morning to pack and head for the airport. It was gray outside and cloudy.  We had gotten an email from jetBlue to allow three hours before the flight because of holiday crowding. After we had showered, we got an email saying the flight was delayed from 11:03 to 12:13.  Too late to go back to bed!  So we drove to the airport, turned our car in, and got through checkin and security quickly.  No crowds when we were there.  But it was now 4 1/2 hours before our flight!  So we had brought with us our breakfast, instead of buying dried-our scones, we had a large cheese danish in a box, and we got coffee and tea and began our long wait.  Not going to miss this flight, nosiree!   :-)

After boarding, waiting for pushback, this was the view of another jetBlue aircraft tail, and the iconic Los Angeles International Airport control tower.  Not another like it anywhere.

Near the end of our flight as we were approaching New York I went to the bathroom and when I came out I saw this amazing blue world!  They use dim blue light to illuminate the aircraft at night.  What a spectacular scene.  But here is the best part - our trip to JFK was in record time - Four hours and five minutes!  What?  The flight to California usually takes about 6 1/2 hours.  The flight home is about 5 1/2 hours.  But FOUR HOURS?  That's incredible!   The calculated ground speed for that flight is 689 miles per hour!  Astounding!  I asked the pilot on the way out if that was a record, and he said it was not.  We had strong tailwinds, and because we were late, the used a bit more power on the engines as well, to try and make up the delayed schedule.  What an astounding trip.  And it is wonderful to be back home!