Off, to DC

6:28 pm... SFO...  Virgin America flight 942... ( best damn airline in the world)

The area in front of the terminal is deserted... A single taxi competing for empty curb space...  There was no line at security...

I am here to catch a flight to LA, once there, to catch a connection to Dulles... Arriving about dawn... Tomorrow, I will visit the battlefield at Fredricksburg Virginia... A civil war battle field... There will be a re enactment in progeress... A celebration or commemoration of the battle which was fought there 150 years ago.

My great, great, grandfather was there, a member of the 55th Virginia... In A. P. Hills corps... But at this battle under command of Stonewall Jackson, A. P. Hill having just received news of his son's death.

It seemed like a good time to visit...

I also have family nearby, nieces, nephews, their spouses (in our family also nieces and nephews, and great nieces, and great nephews...

There also libraries nearby... I have books that I would like to pull at the Library of Congress, and records To  pull at National Archives.

I am busy at work... But things are tense, and the escape may help, and will at least offer a short escape...

Boarding was easy... Seat 23a... A window... Get settled, book out, headphones... I pad... Eventually the plane pushes back... Taxis... And then comes to life for the takeoff roll...

We climb, turn north... Fireworks are visible near fishman's warf... We turn again, this time westward, then southward... It is dark out... San Mateo is below... Then the bay peters out near Santa Clara, now as we fly south, the houses and their lights are getting scarcer as we escape the Bay Area....

The one hour flight south is too short for sleep... That will wait for the east bound leg...

Few lights a visible below... Those that are, are far to the east... Likely in the great valley... The San Joaquin... It is bumpy... But the "fasten seat belt" light is off...

I seem to be wallowing in Lenard Cohen on the entertainment system... Strangely calming...  They announce we are about 20 minutes out... We should prepare to land...  below there are only one or two lonely lights...   Soon, seat belt light on, descending... Over LA... On the ground... Waiting for my turn to get off... Find the next gate... And take a deep breath...  I have an hour before boarding... So I find a place for a beer and fish and chips. Gladstones... But the airport is not the same as Malibu...

I sit for a few minutes at the gate... for the next leg of the flight... the flight is far from full, but they make the peremptory announcement about carry on's anyway, and offer to gate check...  We board quickly... I fall asleep quickly... to awake as we are on approach at Dulles... Its dark... its raining... I get my rental, and go off into the night... which will soon be dawn, but there is no sign of light... off on my adventure.