Sam has always been interested in flying in a small plane over the Bay Area. Personally, the thought of being high up in a tiny plane with just me and a pilot terrifies me but Sam has wanted to do this for as long as I can remember. Luckily, our friend John is a pilot and owns his own Cessna. Last week, John took Sam up in his plane for a day above the bay. Sam took photos and WOW…now I am rethinking my earlier stance on not being in a tiny plane with just me and a pilot. Maybe this is something I need to experience? Or maybe I can just enjoy the experience through Sam and the photos he took? Yes, that sounds better. Enjoy these photos from a Day Above the Bay!

Pilot John prepping the plane. The airfield is about 20 minutes from our house so getting there was easy.

The plane. That is a small cabin for two people!

Passenger Sam. The skies were really blue the day that they flew.

These intrepid boys are airborne!

Here is the Altamont Wind Pass. This is one of my favorite but most weirdly unsettling places in Northern California. When we first moved to the Bay Area, we drove out to Tracy from Dublin and passed through the Altamont. I remember feeling mildly intrigued/mildly terrified because I had never been around so many windmill situations in my life. Did you know that the Altmont Wind Pass has one of the largest concentrations of wind turbines in the world? It really is quite the site from a car but look at it from the air! Pretty wild.

San Francisco from the air.

And now for the money shots: the gorgeous Golden Gate Bridge from above! WOW. Isn’t she just perfect?

The skies were beautiful for this flight. Sam said that occasionally there was a little turbulence but for the most part it was smooth sailing. I’m so glad because 1) hello, safety but 2) beautiful photos!

Do you recognize this island? That’s right, it’s Alcatraz. A few years ago on our wedding anniversary, Sam and I finally did the tour of Alcatraz. We thought it was funny to do it on our anniversary but honestly, the kids were in school and we had someone picking them up and keeping them for us so the timing just worked out. And, the tour is AWESOME and really sobering. We skipped it for the first many years of living here because it seemed touristy and we never made time for it but now I wish we had done it sooner because WOW. There are some crazy Alcatraz stories. Basically, if you ended up here it was game over, forget about ever getting out. If you find yourself in the Bay Area, make sure you do a tour of Alcatraz. You can thank me later.

One more shot of the city before heading home.

Thank you John for taking Sam up in your plane! He had a great time and having these photos makes the experience all the sweeter.