Road Trip: About our Trips to Arkansas

I've come and gone from Arkansas on various trips the last few years that I've been in Oregon and over the course of the trips I have taken some wonder photos.  After going through some of the pictures from my little brother's wedding I decided to do a piece on just the Arkansas trips I've taken recently alone.  Here are some of my favorite shots.  (This post is a bit photo-heavy)

Trip from Oregon to Arkansas (March 2012)

My first trip was amazing.  I hadn't been back to Arkansas in about 5 years and I was excited to see the changes.  I got to see some great views from the plane on the way there, like the Rocky Mountains above and also a view of Mt. Hood.  from the top.

I am not the best person to fly with in the world and at times I almost break out in tears flying because of fear, but who can pass up a view like that?

I got to see John while I was in Arkansas for the first time in 18 years and I was so sad to say goodbye to him when I left.  It was a bitter sweet departure.  On one hand I was flying back to see Skylar, but on the other hand I had to say goodbye to John.  :(

When I landed in Oregon, after being in the sunshine in Arkansas, I was greeted with lots and lots....AND LOTS of snow fall.  It was such a drastic change....I wanted the sunshine back!

On my second trip, here recently, I attended my little brother's wedding.  It was a great time and I took some amazing shots, but here are a few of my favorites on the trip from Oregon to Arkansas.

Trip from Oregon to Arkansas (May 2012)

  

Skylar got excited to know he was going to be flying on an airplane.

  

    

He was so interested in everything as we were walking onto the plane.  His curiousity always make me smile.

Pilots in the cockpit ready to take off.  Skylar actually took this picture, but I really thought it was neat.

The view from the Oakland Airport in California.

We landed in Oakland, California and were able to stretch out feet a little before our next flight.  Skylar quickly makes friends in the airport and talks with them about his last flight.  

Then we boarded again on our way to Arkansas.

I read Outlander series book (The 1st of the series) and Skylar played games and watched movies on his Kindle to pass the time.

We checked the Kindle often to see how far we were from landing in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Almost there!

Skylar's first time boarding a plane that he can actually remember this time.  The last time he flew he was 2-1/2.  Watching him look out the windows was so amazing to see for me.  His face in shock and excitement and at times surprise.  It was such a treat to be able to fly with him this time.

And thanks to his teacher, he had plenty of school activities to keep him busy on the plane.  She's a great teacher for thinking of him during his time away!  

The views from our plane ride to Arkansas was so fascinating.  Flying during the day yield such different views than flying at night.  Here is a view of Alcatraz Island near California.

The view of the San Francisco Bay front.

And the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our plane ride to Arkansas gave us such great views above the clouds too.  Here is a wild fire burn cloud that we could see clearly from our plane.  

The sun setting as we passed over into another time zone.

How scary is this to see.  Yikes!

There's the lights over Little Rock, Arkansas as we come into land.  At this point we were about zoned out we were so tired.

  

And out little guy crashed out completely in the back of the rental car.  And as soon as we got to the hotel Skylar was out!

And we were so glad we got to see John while we were there too and Skylar loved riding him his Mustang!

On our way back from Arkansas to Oregon we saw a much different view from the plane.

Trip from Arkansas to Oregon (May 2012)

Land and mountains over Arizona.

Somewhere over Arizona.

Coming into Phoenix.

Near Oakland, California.

When we landed in Oakland, California the pilot of the plane asked Skylar, as we were departing, if he wanted to see what the inside of the cockpit looked like.  And, of course, Skylar said YES!

The co-pilot.

And the pilot.

We boarded the last flight to Portland, Oregon

The following three pictures are of the San Francisco Bay in California.

Tiburon Uplands Nature Preserve on the opposite side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Skylar with his face buried in his Nintendo DS.  At this point we were trying to find anything to occupy the time.

Like napkin drawing.  Ha!  How cute is this though, I mean really?

Northern California, almost to Oregon now.

The Siskiyou Mountains

When we landed in Portland, Oregon Skylar asked if he could see the cockpit this time and this co-pilot went all out on an hour long teaching of every gear, knob and control in that cockpit.  Ha!

But, he was super nice and his personality was great!  Southwest has some great employees.