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Yesterday I flew home from Mexico City.

My flight from Mexico City to Chicago pulled out from the gate exactly on time at 8:10 A.M.

As is usually the case at this busy airport, we waited for about twenty minutes on the runway for our turn to take off.  The day was overcast, and there was no chance of seeing the volcanoes to the east.

After take-off we could look down on Mexico City before ascending above the clouds.

About four hours later we were over the farmlands of Illinois as we began our descent to Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

We actually passed within sight of O'Hare, flew out over Lake Michigan, and circled back to approach the airport from the east.

After landing, passing through immigration and customs was quick and painless, and even going through security was not too bad.  My layover in Chicago was supposed to be about two and a half hours, but my flight to Cleveland was delayed due to mechanical problems.  We waited for another plane to arrive and take us to Cleveland.  In spite of everything that you read about all the airport chaos, this was the only glitch in my flight schedule, both flying to Mexico and returning home.  My flight ended up leaving the gate one hour behind schedule.

It is just a quick one-hour flight from Chicago to Cleveland.  Once again, we flew out over Lake Michigan.

After crossing the lake, we could see the coast of Michigan.  In this photo you can make out one of the sand dunes which are found along the state's western coast.

We crossed over Michigan and came to the western end of Lake Erie just to the south of Detroit.  The town in the lower left is probably Monroe, Michigan.  Toward the upper right, at the corner of the lake, just over the state line, is the urban area of Toledo, Ohio.  

Below us are the Lake Erie islands.  You can just barely make out the white pillar which is the monument commemorating Commodore Perry's victory in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.  The 352-foot-high monument is the largest Doric column in the world.  It is located at Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island.

The largest of the Lake Erie islands is Pelee Island which is just across the border in Canadian waters.

We crossed over the shore of Ohio at the city of Lorain.

We circled around and approached Cleveland Hopkins Airport from the southwest...

And passed over my hometown of Olmsted Falls before landing.

I am now at home for five weeks until I return to Mexico in October.  In the meantime, I have several more posts to write about the trip that I just concluded.