Views from above Atlanta to Salt Lake City

I'm attending a conference in Salt Lake City, so I thought I'd share some images from the trip here.

After departing Atlanta, I soon saw the mighty Mississippi River, with oxbow lakes remaining from previous bends of the river (below).

Next, we passed over the gently undulating Ozark Mountains (below).

I knew we'd crossed the Mississippi and were approaching the 100th meridian, the line of longitude that divides irrigated land from "the wet East" (below).

The further west we fly, the contrast between "wet" and dry became increasingly stark.. Here's a cool view of a town defined by hydrological boundaries (below)! See the river course?

I knew we'd hit the Front Range of the Rockies when snow appeared (below)!

We then passed from Colorado into south central Utah (I hear an Ice Cube joke somewhere) and passed over amazing amounts of more snow (below)!

As we descended into Salt Lake City, I saw some interesting juxtapositions of urban and natural systems. The new subdivisions next to perfectly circular irrigated fields were especially thought-provoking - if they have to irrigate alfalfa, how much water's needle for lawns and swimming pools? (below)

And of course, how could you miss this Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) anchored by a church (below).

Finally, there's the view from the hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, a surreal mix of skyscrapers and mountains, looking west (first image below) and east toward the Wasatch Range (second image).