Musings at Altitude

When I need to relax, clear my head, or cool off (I do work out every now and then), I head out into the courtyard of the hotel I’m staying at in Anchorage.  I’ve been out here two different times today, catching up on emails one time and then cooling off after a workout this time. 

During the first visit, I felt like I was sitting at the end of a runway as float planes came over constantly (at least one every other minute for about a half hour stretch), doing touch and goes on the lake across the street from the hotel.  This one got pretty close:

Since my room is on that side of the hotel and it’s light here till long after normal human beings go to bed, the approach patterns onto the lake seem continuous all the way up until the west coast SportsCenter comes on (for you that don’t religiously watch it like I do, that’s 9:00 pm here in Anchorage). 

But during the second visit this evening, I noticed that the planes were getting just a bit more daring in their approaches:

If I had been out on the balcony of my room for this second plane, I have no doubt I could have cast a rod and caught the biggest fish I’d ever catch in my life.  That’s how close it was to the hotel.

The closer they get, the more curious I am. 

Next time I come up, I think I want to ride in one!