The upside of an early flight…

United flight 1200 left from its SFO gate promptly at 6:46am this morning bound for Seattle. I was about halfway through my morning latte–Peet’s with a dusting of Splenda–and slowly emerging from the fog of my early rise.

Early flights are just rough, but as the plane lifted from a routine north-bound runway, I got the payoff I needed to lift my spirits.

The pilot kindly banked around the City on a breathtaking route that revealed a City waking up with the dramatic first rays of sun. It felt as if the pilot was sightseeing with us as we passed one celebrated landmark after another…each one worth a vacation.

Low, early light truly sets off San Francisco…revealing the famous undulations of the terrain that are normally masked by rows of houses. From above, the City looks small and intimate…a tiny peninsula isolated from the rest of the world.

What a fantastic (and unexpected) reminder of what makes San Francisco special.

Still…I’m not saying I couldn’t have used another hour of sleep. 🙂