The plane started rolling off the starting point on the runway. As it gathered momentum and pulled the wheels up, rapidly we could see River Columbia emerge to our left. A few seconds later, as we continued to gain height, something seemed to trigger some old memories as I looked down from the plane. Quickly took a few pictures of the sight and then waited to get Wifi access in the plane (after 10,000 feet).

A few minutes of research on my blog and sure enough – I figured out why the scenery looked familiar.

Notice the right bottom end – near the plane’s window edge, you can see the road. But between the road and the the river, if you carefully notice, there is a trail that goes along the river (this is the Oregon side; the other side is Washington).

Way back on Oct 20, last year, I had driven up to a trail head and started running. Eventually, I ran along the exact spot that you see in this picture. See the inset – and you can see the same bridge. I remember stopping multiple times to watch the planes fly very low as it approached the runway.

Today, I was on the other end!!

Text message exchange with Sharmila this Monday… It was admittedly a little hectic…