Why is Denver so Expen$ive?

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by memph

Meanwhile in a city like Houston or Dallas, much of the people are coming from the Midwest, Deep South and Great Plains and Florida where housing values are lower.

Surely you're kidding. Right?

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/o...oving-to-texas

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by chris08876

I admittedly lack knowledge in the department of flight patterns / routes and flight times, but how is L.A. - Singapore 17h 20m, while Singapore - NYC is 18h 45m yet the dotted line marking Singapore - NYC looks at least twice as long as that of L.A. - Singapore?

Edit: Yes, I'm familiar with tail winds, but are they such a major factor that they would compensate for the substantially greater route distance?

[Centropolis]

i've done houston to auckland...you just have a completely different mentality jumping the pacific that far.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

I admittedly lack knowledge in the department of flight patterns / routes and flight times, but how is L.A. - Singapore 17h 20m, while Singapore - NYC is 18h 45m yet the dotted line marking Singapore - NYC looks at least twice as long as that of L.A. - Singapore?

seriously?

chicago to shanghai is similar, there's a reason why it's going "over" alaska.

[edale]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

I admittedly lack knowledge in the department of flight patterns / routes and flight times, but how is L.A. - Singapore 17h 20m, while Singapore - NYC is 18h 45m yet the dotted line marking Singapore - NYC looks at least twice as long as that of L.A. - Singapore?

Edit: Yes, I'm familiar with tail winds, but are they such a major factor that they would compensate for the substantially greater route distance?

The flights from NY go over the North Pole, which saves quite a bit of time. I recently flew from LA to Singapore, but had a layover in Seoul. My friend left from Minneapolis at the same time that I left LA, and we got to Seoul at about the same time. After that ~12 hour flight, the additional 6 hours to Singapore felt like a breeze.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by goat314

Sacramento is a river city the same way that Philadelphia is a River City. Meaning it sits on the banks of a coastal inlet that spills out into the ocean. Somebody from St. Louis or Cincinnati would scuff at the idea of Sacramento being considered a river city. You're too close to the coast and Sacramento is the only major city note on that body of water.

The Heartland is where the river cities be my friend.

I'm pretty sure that like me, edale is from or near Cincinnati?

That was another thing that took some getting used to: Rivers lakes, creeks and washes in the southwest are dry most of the year aside from monsoon downpours.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

I think a thread on "longest drive you've ever taken"(with photos) would be awesome.

My longest drive was around 22 hours(NYC-Arkansas). My longest flight was LA-Tokyo.

17 hours in a plane is insane. I think you should have mandated workout time at the 9-hour point.

Longest drive I've done in one day is Jackson WY to Reno NV (700 miles, ~12 hours with stops).

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

i've done houston to auckland...you just have a completely different mentality jumping the pacific that far.

I'm hoping USAP gives me the Chicago to Auckland flight when I'm (likely) going to the South Pole in January!

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

I'm hoping USAP gives me the Chicago to Auckland flight when I'm (likely) going to the South Pole in January!

ah, then i guess on to Christchurch? I hope you have time to spend in the South Island of New Zealand.

[cabasse]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

I admittedly lack knowledge in the department of flight patterns / routes and flight times, but how is L.A. - Singapore 17h 20m, while Singapore - NYC is 18h 45m yet the dotted line marking Singapore - NYC looks at least twice as long as that of L.A. - Singapore?

Edit: Yes, I'm familiar with tail winds, but are they such a major factor that they would compensate for the substantially greater route distance?

distortion from the mercator projection

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

ah, then i guess on to Christchurch? I hope you have time to spend in the South Island of New Zealand.

Yep... I hope so. Last time I went to McMurdo I was working on a balloon experiment with an uncertain launch date so USAP would only give me either a fixed departure date from New Zealand or an "immediately after balloon launches" date, so I didn't get to spend more than a few days in transit in Christchurch. This time I'll be going to Pole with fixed dates so I should be able to arrange some time in New Zealand!

[jd3189]

Originally Posted by chris08876

Its quite easy to do long flights. Just go to your doctor and tell him you have flight anxiety. He or she will give you a Valium. Just take 1 one with a glass of airplane red wine, and prepare for the long nap.

Next thing you know, your there!

Its like warp speed! You can condense a 10-17 hour + flight to a matter of minutes. And you'll feel refreshed too.

Worst part of those long flights is that you can increase your risk of getting a pulmonary embolism. That thing can cause sudden death if you aren’t taking any anticoagulants.

[BG918]

Originally Posted by goat314

Exactly, everything west of the Mississippi is big open sky country. Which is exactly why St. Louis is called the gateway to the West. Once you see the Arch, expect at least half a day drives to the next major settlement. That was true in the Lewis and Clark days and is still true in the 21st century.

I would say “the gateway to the west” is actually Kansas City. In the 19th century it was St Louis (hence why the Gateway Arch is there) but in modern times I-35 is a better transition line. There’s a big difference between the hilly forests of Missouri west of St Louis vs the farmland and grasslands west of KC.

[edale]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

I'm pretty sure that like me, edale is from or near Cincinnati?

That was another thing that took some getting used to: Rivers lakes, creeks and washes in the southwest are dry most of the year aside from monsoon downpours.

Correct. I still think of Sacramento and Portland as river cities, though. Not sure why they should be thought of differently because they empty into the ocean, because really all rivers eventually lead to an ocean or lake. I get not calling DC a river city, as it's not really oriented around the river, and the Potomac was never the central point of the city's existence like it was for Cincinnati or St. Louis. But I think Sacramento actually was very tied to its river for much of its early existence. The old town area is right on the river, and they even have steamboats and what not like you'd find in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Louisville, etc.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Worst part of those long flights is that you can increase your risk of getting a pulmonary embolism. That thing can cause sudden death if you aren’t taking any anticoagulants.

It must be hard for smokers too. Like 16-17+ hours of not smoking or getting some form of nicotine. I'd imagine the gum could be a solution to get it on the plane.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by BG918

I would say “the gateway to the west” is actually Kansas City. In the 19th century it was St Louis (hence why the Gateway Arch is there) but in modern times I-35 is a better transition line. There’s a big difference between the hilly forests of Missouri west of St Louis vs the farmland and grasslands west of KC.

I'd kind of agree with that after living in KC, although St. Louis is still a gateway to noticeably different geography(s), it's just that it's more down I-44 and I-55 than I-70, since the prairies meld into the plains so slowly that you don't even notice it really until you are in Kansas. Entering rugged forest on an interstate blasted through limestone comes on pretty fast if you are on I-44 leaving metro St. Louis, and you start seeing ranches and guys hauling horses wearing cowboy hats actually within the state along 44.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by goat314

Growing up to St. Louis, it was common to hear people going to Chicago, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Des Moines, Omaha, occasionally Detroit, or an Ohio city. Yet, I had never been to the Twin Cities and I actually have family up there. They always used to just come down to Missouri or Illinois for family reunions, because most of my family lives on the I-55 corridor from St. Louis to Chicago.

Same. I first went to MSP when I was in my 30s.

When I was a kid we only went west on a plane. The only time we went west of Michigan in a car was for what felt like a ridiculously long drive to Kansas City for us to still be in the Midwest. Detroit to KC is a longer drive than Detroit to Boston and Detroit to Atlanta.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by edale

The flights from NY go over the North Pole, which saves quite a bit of time. I recently flew from LA to Singapore, but had a layover in Seoul. My friend left from Minneapolis at the same time that I left LA, and we got to Seoul at about the same time. After that ~12 hour flight, the additional 6 hours to Singapore felt like a breeze.

From L.A. the flight probably also goes north over N. America to Alaska and then back south over Asia.

[10023]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

I admittedly lack knowledge in the department of flight patterns / routes and flight times, but how is L.A. - Singapore 17h 20m, while Singapore - NYC is 18h 45m yet the dotted line marking Singapore - NYC looks at least twice as long as that of L.A. - Singapore?

Edit: Yes, I'm familiar with tail winds, but are they such a major factor that they would compensate for the substantially greater route distance?

Because it’s a two dimensional projection of a sphere.

[edale]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

From L.A. the flight probably also goes north over N. America to Alaska and then back south over Asia.

Incorrect. It goes north, but over the ocean, not North America.