Having a digital camera to take window seat photos is quite liberating :) Rather than husband my shots on film, and settle for a poor quality/discard ratio, I've able to impulsively snap every shot that took my fancy - including multiple series over the same terrain to capture just the right angle.
Our flight path went due west from Houston, took a northwestern turn around Austin, and passed just south of Denver and Colorado Springs. We crossed the Rockies via Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, including what I think was the Grand Escalante National Monument. As we approached Seattle the cloud cover increased and remained so all along Vancouver, the Canadian coast, and the entire length of Alaska, so I have no photos from that part. We are now passing over the Bering Sea and the clouds have somewhat opened, allowing one good shot, though the ice crystals on the window might have ruined the shot. With an air temperature outside of -41 degrees C (and F, the scales cross) I'm grateful that the entire window hasn't become impenetrable.
There are still 5 hours left and the entire Siberian coastline left to pass. I'll probably not be able to see any land masses from my window, on the left side of the plane (seat 44A) since we will probably fly well east until we approach near Japan, so my Kamchatka photos will have to wait until the retturn flight.
Upon arrival I have actually quite a hectic to do list - after collecting my bags, I need to redeem my rail pass voucher, then catch the Narita Express to Tokyo station, and the shinkansen from there to Kyoto. That's going to be another 5 hours at least until I even get to Kyoto - let's be conservative and say six before I actually get to my hotel (the Kyoto Park Hotel). Still, I definitely will upload the blog entries I've written so far before I leave Narita, given the rumored ubiquitous wi-fi access there. So by the time my family in Houston and Chicago is waking up in the morning, I should just be completing my journey.
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