Speed

Yesss! The jetstream winds are back on our tail as we pushed 607 knots over the ground, or just about 700 miles per hour!!! Well, okay, it's 698 MPH, and converted to car speed is roughly 12 miles per minute. Now that's fast! We made Houston, Texas to NYC in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Top that in your Crown Vic!

That's all.

North Carolina From the Air

Funny enough... I'm writing this post from Raleigh-Durham.

Fly between the Northeast and Florida and chances are you'll likely pass right over the state of North Carolina. I have a lot of ties to the Tarheel State, as my ancestors arrived to this country via the Cape Fear River many years ago. In my former life I also lived just outside the cities of Charlotte, Asheville and Raleigh-Durham. However to be brutally honest, I don't think I could ever live there again. Maybe because being born and raised in California spoils you (sans the taxes) as the weather, lifestyle, terrain, and outdoor activities cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the United States. That's just my opinion, but I've frequented just about every state in the Union and I still find the West to be the best...dude.

Greensboro

Now wait a minute... Actually North Carolina's geography and topography is just about the mirror opposite of California. The mountains are in the west and the beaches are in the east. Granted the Blue Ridge don't ascend to 14,000 feet like the Sierras, there's still a pretty good amount of snow accumulation during the winter months. In fact, there's just enough to hit the slopes at one of over eight ski resorts in the state. Not bad.

Charlotte, and airport to the left

Now let's talk beach. Over three-thousand miles of pristine shoreline start at Sunset Beach and end up north around Knotts Island. The state even boasts the largest sand dunes in the nation. Pretty cool. Plenty to do here, such as surf, lie around or fly a kite near Kitty Hawk. Didn't something else happen there?

Lowe's Motor Speedway

The culture is quite different from California, but that's OK. For one, this is Nascar central. If you're into that kind of stuff, this is your home. If not, well, there's always some really good pig BBQ just around the corner. Then you can wash it down with an RC Cola and a moon pie. That I won't complain about.

Raleigh

Other than that, in the amount of time it took to read this post, we're almost into South Carolina now. That's another topic, and actually a pretty good one. Oh how I miss Charleston...

Maybe soon we'll fly there.

Island Time

San Juan, Puerto Rico sunrise

The days are getting cooler and shorter while some Americans are beginning to think about leaving the Northeast for more warmer climes down south. For those of us who are staying put and bracing for a cold winter, let me warm you up with some photos from the islands.

Enjoy!

Lyford Cay Bay, Bahamas

Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Bellows Beach, O'ahu, Hawaii

Near Love Beach, Bahamas

Bahamas

Bonds Cay (bottom), and Little Harbor Cay (top)

Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas

Nice water/sand

I leave you with an excellent short surf movie, made for Jet Blue as part of the 2008 New York Surf movie festival.