Views From Above

I went on a road trip last year that took me from the east coast, through Denver, up to Oregon and Washington, down through California, before finally arriving in Las Vegas.

I was playing with Google Maps this morning, in a bout of nostalgia. I retraced some of our route, and let myself get lost in my memories. But eventually, the stunning imagery grabbed my attention. It was something like being in a car going through the mountains or in a plane over a city... There's so much to take in.

Some of the images from the satellites are really stunning. I find them thought provoking, as well. The brilliance of human creativity and nature's wondrous beauty are on full display. This is art.

I decided they were worth sharing, because we tend to take these things for granted. This is my way of stopping to smell the roses.

Once you pass Bakersfield and start heading west to Las Vegas, things start to take a turn to the desolate.

Though if you look, even in the emptiness there are people up to something.

South of Barstow, there are a couple towns called Victorville and Apple Valley.

Like a lot of towns, they developed around a water source. In this case, Spring Valley Lake.

The lake is pretty amazing!

There is a golf course in town.

And a bunch of houses.

North of Victorville, something else caught my eye. The Southern California Logistics Airport.

The airport itself is something special, but what actually caught my eye was this assemblage of buildings.

There is recreation nearby.

The cracked asphalt of this parking looks cool.

Some interesting buildings are part of the complex.

What looks to be an array of solar panels nearby.

There's something I like about this... the different ways we shape the landscape for different purposes produce contrasting textures.

And of course, what's an airport without planes?

To he east of Spring Valley Lake is a town called Apple Valley. The overhead view of the town's residential neighborhoods are stunning.

I hope someone out there enjoys looking at this stuff half as much as I do! :)

(Note: All images in this post were screenshots taken while playing with google maps. This is considered fair use.)