Across the country to LA

I haven't posted in a while. But I recently have been on the road or more accurately in the air. I flew from Albany, NY to Los Angeles, CA. As much as I hate the process of flying, I love flying itself. I sit with my face and camera glued to the window. Here is a photo essay of my trip across the country - and it is an amazing landscape. Whenever I fly, I am reminded of what a world we live in.

As a graphic designer - these irrigation fields are so beautiful. Look at the variety of subtle textures.

So what is this anyway - a volcano? I wish the pilot would provide commentary.

Moving from the heartland to the deserts and up into the Rockies. All in one trip.

Then down into the deserts. Look it is the Grand Canyon!! Finally the pilot

chimes in to confirm my findings.

Then back into the mountains and finally the outskirts of LA.

Can you see the Pacific Ocean out there?

The airport has a very cool, George Jetson Control Tour. And it was warm - about 70 degrees.

After dropping into my hotel room I looked out my window and behold. Many people were outside preping for the world premier of John Carter.

Our fancy hotel.

One thing we don't see in upstate New York is outdoor couch bar around a lovely fireplace.

On the other side of the hotel was the Staples Center and what they call LA Live. A large open air space with lots of big screen TVs, restaurants and stores. It isn't Time Square, but it was a nice day and a quiet place to walk.

Hey look - the premier begins. How exciting.

I really didn't know who any of these people were, but the whole red carpet process was interesting and stunningly superficial to watch.

I love a nice shower. I really liked the design of this shower.

Just a record of my room.

This is the quintessential LA photo. The weather was perfect every day. How lucky was that.

Interesting building in downtown LA.

My favorite architect. I never tire of Frank Ghery.  This is a performing arts building across from the Contemporary Art Museum. You can't take a bad photo.

Inside Ghery building.

Another quintessential LA shot.

We had dinner with a long lost friend. It was so wonderful to see a friend I haven't seen in 20+ years. For dessert we had the new hot LA item - Macaroons. Cupcakes are out, Macaroons are in. And they were very good.

No visit to LA is complete without a trip to the Santa Monica beaches. This is a private club we were invited to for lunch.

Across from our hotel these huge billboards were going up.

They were being painted by hand. How amazing is that. In three days they had these three buildings pretty much finished. I was impressed.

Back to LA Live - at night. Something was going on at the Staples Center. So the place was jumping. The night was warm and sitting out with a glass of wine was simply lovely.
The people watching was great.

The designer in me loved these chairs and the rug and the lamps.

The woman in me was amused and slightly saddened by this LA weather woman - so LA.

That dress does not speak "weather woman" to me.

So soon to be back at the Jetson style airport - LAX.

Love those Southwest colors against the Pacific Ocean.

One last moment of America Gone Wild - Los Vegas. The city has got to be one of the strangest

places on earth - as tacky as it can be, yet people flock to spend their hard earned money in these
bizarre buildings. I just don't get the attraction. We were barely there an hour - and that was
plenty of time for me.

If you didn't get enough gambling in, the airport provided last minute opportunities to lose more money!

Now I don't need to go to Egypt.

I think I have provided enough plane shots. But be assured that as the sun sank in the west, 

I continued to be glued to the window until the last drop of light faded away. 

THE END