It's loud, it's tight and it's bumpy. Nevertheless, the Embraer EMB-120 flight from Portland to Seattle is my favourite segment to fly in the world. I've taken the flight numerous times and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. This past Sunday was no exception.

I had grabbed my usual seat in row 9 (window seat, exit row with several extra feet of legroom) and popped my iPod earphones in my ear. The sun was casting a warm glow on everything -- the puffy clouds were orange-red, the grass and trees were bright green and the water shimmered lazily as we floated off the runway. Within minutes, the plane had popped through the low-hanging cloud layer. Some of the passengers closed their window shades because of the brightness of the sunset. Not me. The panoramic views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Baker, Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier were too good to pass up. As Jack Johnson piped "Traffic in the Sky" I snapped a few photos of the mountains. The woman behind me raised her shade to see what I was taking a picture of. Not too late either. Thirty minutes later the dark set in as we moved back through the clouds and landed at SeaTac International Airport.

A perfect end to a long trip.