DAY 0 - Valerie and I board our United flight bound for Hawaii
The ground crew continues to load luggage on to our plane
Another 767 leaves the gate
We should be able to depart after one last baggage cart is emptied
We taxi by Virgin America...an airline Valerie really liked
We pass a scaffold-covered Encounter Restaurant, the control tower, and a Hawaiian Airlines aircraft shortly before taking off
As we take to the sky, I catch a shot of our old neighborhood
We pass over Marina del Rey's breakwater
View stretching from Pacific Palisades to Santa Monica
This peninsula is Mahou Riviera in Malibu
Many trails wind their way into the Santa Monica Mountains from Pacific Coast Highway
This is not the site of the Xterra Point Mugu 11K Trail Run Valerie and I participated in this year...these trails lie just to the southeast
Oxnard and Camarillo to Point Mugu NAS
Anacapa Island
Santa Cruz Island
I have never visited any of the Channel Islands
These islands are not far off the coast of Oxnard or Santa Barbara
I think Santa Cruz Island is bigger than Catalina
More clouds cover Santa Rosa Island
For most of our flight, the Pacific Ocean is under heavy cloud cover
A few hours later and we begin our descent
Storms obscure our view of the Big Island
As we bank towards our destination, Maui's Haleakala becomes visible