Flying LAS-BUR on Friday March 6th

As we took off out of LAS we took off to the Northeast and made a sharp bank to the right. The top photo looks over the MGM Grand.










These 2 photos look over the Excalibur and the Luxor.

http://www.excalibur.com
http://www.luxor.com

This photo has a good view of the vast grounds of the Mandalay Bay.
www.mandalaybay.com.

We head southwest toward Los Angeles, the top photo looks back at Las Vegas
McCarran Airport, (LAS), http://www.mccarran.com.












The center photo shows the rapidly growing master-planned community of
Summerlin. http://summerlin.com.












One interesting aspect of the Las Vegas valley, while it is a low-desert; just a fewmiles west we see the red rocks as well as the snow-capped Mount Charleston, as shown in the bottom photo.

As we approach the Los Angeles area, we start to see major sub-divisions on
the north side from the LA area. As the the US's second largest city has grown
beyond the lower valleys over the passes and into the Antelope Valley.


This photo looks at Palmdale one of the rapidly growing suburbs in the Antelope
Valley and has over 150,000 people. http://www.palmdalecalifornia.com.









This photo shows all the new homes being built in the valley.

As we head South over the mountains we see the Valencia Town Center in
the top photo. http://westfield.com/valencia.











The next 2 photos look at I-5 as it crosses the pass from the Antelope Valley
to the San Fernando Valley toward Los Angeles.














The bottom photo looks at the intersection of I-5, (the horizontal highway) and
I-210. At this point we have crossed the mountains and have entered the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley.

We turn east over the San Fernando Valley on approach to BUR.

The top photo looks in on Woodland Hills an edge city in the western part of
the valley. http://www.woodlandhills.com/.
As well as many businesses, Woodlnad has 2 major malls next to one another; The Topanga Plaza and the Westfield promenade. http://westfield.com/topanga and http://westfield.com/promenade.







Although suburban by nature, the San Fernando Valley has various edge
cities but no real downtown, (This applies to most of the LA area). The next
3 photos show Sherman Oaks. The first 2 photos look South over I-405 as it
traverses the foothills down to LA's West Side.










This photo has an aerial of Sherman Oaks looking South. Running horizontal
along the photo is US101, and vertically I-405. If you look toward the lower left
corner near the intersection of the 2 highways, you'll see a long white building;
the Sherman Oaks Galleria, http://www.shermanoaksgalleria.com. The
Galleria was the small shown in some 80's classics like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Valley Girl". The mall was renovated about 10 years ago and now it is an open-air entertainment complex with movies, bars and
restaurants.

Burbank Airport, (BUR)

Bob Hope Burbank Airport is located in the Eastern Half of the San Fernando
Valley. Being just over the pass from LA and Hollywood, it is very convenient
for the people of Central LA as well as the Valleys. It is a small airport surrounded by the city, (similar to Chicago Midway). With the neighbors so close, it has a strong noise abatement procedures and a curfew with no aircaft
movements occuring between 10pm and 7am, as indicated in the top photo.







BUR, is "old school ", in that it has a single story terminal with no jet-bridges.
For this reason we can board out of both the front as well as the rear. This is
another convenience that BUR offers. It is one of my personal favorite airport
of the many we serve in our system. Information about BUR can be found at:
http://www.burbankairport.com.




The next 2 photos were taken while we were parked in between flights.
Here you can see the single story terminal.









This photo shows how small the airport is, and how close to one another the
aircrafts are parked.



















On takeoff, here is a view of Downtown Burbank to the east. Downtown Burbank
has undergone a massive re-development over the past 10 years. Major shops
and restaurants have moved there, as well as thousands of new residents have
made Downtown home. http://www.downtown-burbank.org.

Flying DEN-SLC on Thursday March 5th

After take-off from DEN, we get a good view of Denver, (top photo). As the
largest city in the Rocky Mountain Region, Denver offers lots of interesting
things to do. Its citizens, our highly educated, and healthier than most of the
other US Metro areas. As well as a wealth of outdoor activites nearby, Denver also offers a thriving arts scene. http://www.denver.org/.



10 miles West of Denver, we see the town of Golden at the foot of the Hogback
Foothills of the Front Range. Golden has restored much of its old west town
heritage and is the home of Coors Beer. http://www.coors.com.








The bottom photo is the western edge of Lakewood. I-70 runs diagonaly along
the photo lower left to top right. US6 runs horizontally from left to right. The large white building near their intersection, is the large Colorado Mills a value-
oriented shopping mall, http://www.coloradomills.com
The area surrounding it is the Denver West Corporate Area.
This area is home to a few large companies most notably Chipotle and
Einstein Bagels. http://www.denverwest.com/.

We leave Denver and enter the Front Range area; The top photo is a view
south of Pikes Peak, approximately 70 miles away.



The middle photo shows the small town of Idaho Springs, (center of the photo).
Here CO103 heads south from I-70, (toward the top of the photo), to the summit of Mount Evans. http://www.mountevans.com.











This road ascends over 14,000 feet as is the highest and is the highest paved
road in North America. (bottom photo).

About 50 miles west of Denver, I-70 and US 40 seperate. I-70 continues west
through the Eisenhower Tunnel past the town of Georgetown, (top of top photo). US 40 heads northwest through Berthoud Pass, (next 2 photos), eventually toward Salt Lake City


















After US40 descends from Berthoud, it passes by Winter Park Ski Area.
http://www.skiwinterpark.com. If driving over the pass is too challenging,
Winter Park has an express train from Denver's Union Station. http://www.skitrain.com.

Ski Summit County

On the other side of the Continental Divide from Winter Park, we reach the ski
resorts of Summit County. http://www.summitcolorado.com.

The top photo shows the resorts of Eastern Summit County. From left to right,
we see Arapahoe Basin, (the highest ski area in Summit County) http://www.arapahoebasin.com; Loveland, http://www.skiloveland.com; and
Keystone, (also shown in the second photo), http://keystone.snow.com.
If you follow the peak line left to right from Arapahoe to Loveland and beyond,
this makes up the Continental Divide. Any water flow on the East Side, (bottom
side of picture), flows eventually to the Atlantic Ocean; and water from the West, (top side), flows to the Pacific.






To the West of Keystone, (in the 3rd photo from the top), we see the towns of
Dillon, Silverthorne and Frisco. If you focus on the Dillon Reservior and follow
the road toward the top of the photo, (CO9 south), you see Breckenridge Ski Area. http://breckenridge.snow.com.
The reservior seperated the 3 towns. Dillon, just south of I-70 is a town that
mainly serves Keystone with motels, condos and restaurants. http://www.townofdillon.com. Silverthorne, on north side of 70 and the reservior, is known for outlet shopping. http://www.silverthorne.org. Frisco
is a town just south of the intersection of 70 and 9. It is the gateway to the
Breckenridge Ski Area. Breckenridge, unlike the other Summit County Resorts,
is located right in the town of Breckenridge, offering a true ski-in, ski-out
experience. http://www.townofbreckenridge.com.



The bottom photo shows Copper Mountain Ski Area, the next ski area west of
Frisco. http://www.coppercolorado.com.

Salt Lake City Thursday March 5th

We arrived in Salt Lake City after our flight from DEN. The top photo has
a view of Downtown Salt Lake as we land at SLC.









The next 3 photos offer a good view of the East Salt Lake Valley to the
Wasatch Mountains. Salt Lake City is a beautiful city with beautiful view.
http://www.visitsaltlake.com.





















If you click on the photo to the right, the buildings at the base of the mountain is
the campus of the University of Utah. www.utah.edu .