Trenton to San Fran by way of Burlington, VT

Trip got off to 30 min late wit a planned stop in Burlington,BTV) to pick up a passenger. Called Atlantic Aviation the FBO (Fixed Base Operation) at BTV and asked for a "quick turn". That's the term used when time is of the essence for whatever reason. We landed in BTV, topped the main fuel tanks and were airborne on our way to SFO in less than 25 min. I had originally planned a 45 min stop for fueling, so I just made up 20 min of our departure delay.

University of Vermont sits on the elevated terrain just south of the approach to runway 15 in Burlington. I took this picture while my co-pilot was making the ILS 15 approach.

Departure from Trenton was in light rain and we remained in the clouds at FL250 through the entire flight to Burlington.
Departure from BTV was uneventful with my CP flying this leg also. Headwinds were forecast to be significant and a nonstop flight to SFO was out of the question. This is only the second time in 15 months of flying this aircraft that I had to plan an enroute fuel stop to the west coast. I have to admit I find the stops to be a pleasure. It breaks up a long 5 1/2-6 hour trip into 2 much more enjoyable legs of flying. I picked a stop a little over half way, RAP(Rapid City, SD)-the closest airport to Mount Rushmore. I have never seen the monument and planned on flying over it on the departure from RAP. Weather was going to be ideal. So, I planned on flying this leg of the trip.
This the Rapid City, SD airport (picture taken on short final to runway 14). Rapid City is about 25 miles from Mount Rushmore.


The quick turn in Rapid city was unnecessary. Contacting the the tower for departure, we were informed that San Francisco weather was causing arrival delays. To prevent us from arriving and being unable to land, departure for SFO were being programmed and we were and we were given a departure time an hour and a half later than we planned.
Finally departed for the 2:45 min flight to SFO. Asked for VFR departure and a vector toward Mount Rushmore. I gave my CP my camera as I flew the legal minimum altitude and distance from a National Monument.

Here are Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln.
After taking the picture we continued our climb to 40,000 and continued with an smooth flight to SFO. The worst of the weather had passed and we broke out of the clouds with good visibility on our approach to runway 28R at SFO.



The last 2 pictures are the fog backed Oakland bridge and our short final to the runway.