New York (sort of)

LA County Safer At Home: Day 325

Oooo, bottled water already at your seat? Amenity kit and bottled water already placed thoughtfully in the storage cubby, too.

United 787-10, odd-numbered window seat for optimal social distancing.

Endless fog blankets the coast.

Fog starting to lift as the morning gets late.

Glendale is the u-ish shape in the foreground, bordered clockwise from the west by I-5, CA-134, and CA-2.

A tad further east, with I-210 from the east and a 90 degree turn north, as it collides with CA-134 at the cloverleaf at bottom right..

I miss the old bloody mary cart. ;_;

The strip.

COVID-19 precautions for breakfast.

It was pancakes or eggs. Went with pancakes. Might have been a mistake.

They almost look edible.

Lake Powell.

Ground speed of 696mph... flyin'!

Not the most advanced business class in the sky, but still a pretty solid one.

Probably down to 2,000 feet altitude here-- under the clouds but still above the fog.

Snow-lined streets underneath final approach to Newark International Airport.

Dreamliners being de-iced after the earlier storm.

Pulling up to Concourse C3, Terminal 3, at EWR.

The sun after the storm.

A big 777-300ER being de-iced at the gate.

Departures board.

Dreamliner parked in the snow.

Seat 1L this time, instead of 7A. Bulkhead = bigger footwell.

Sunset over Newark Liberty International Airport.

Window frame shot... too many reflections.

Top amenity kit from LAX-EWR, bottom from EWR-LAX.

11 rows of Polaris (business) seats.

De-icing the engines at the gate.

And now over in the de-icing bay.

Another Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the background, also being de-iced.

New Jersey city lights.

Frozen solid.

Buffalo chicken with cauliflower rice. Almost healthy til you see all the cheese.

Finishing off the last of United's Premier 2021 head start with a quick trip to New York. Started off with layers of fog over Los Angeles and scenic views of Glendale, then the sprawn of Las Vegas and shortly thereafter, Lake Powell.

United's COVID-19 pandemic meal service isn't exactly impressive, but then it never was to start with, so one try covered in packaged goods and a hot main course in foil isn't the end of the world. Breakfast on LAX-EWR was almost edible pancakes, dinner on EWR-LAX was a less appetizing looking buffalo chicken and riced cauliflower that was actually more tasty than the pancakes.

Strong tailwinds made LAX-EWR a quick flight, finished off with wonderful snowy landscapes after the day's earlier snow. Had a quick piece lousy airport pizza (because when in New York...), then soaked in the sunset right around boarding. And as someone who doesn't live in snow, it was was fun on the ground to watch de-icing operations after the storm.

In the winter, the strong jetstream that benefits the eastbound flights makes the westbound return a bit of a slog. Combined with a delayed departure to accommodate some late connecting passengers (love that United does this, but getting back to LAX so late was no fun) and it was a long day. Still glad to be done with the year's airline status chasing nonsense barely 5 weeks into the new year. *grins*