What's better than sunsets? Sunsets with lightning from a plane

I couldn't really avoid getting the wing in the frame, but this thunder cloud and its lightning were pretty cool.

IN THE AIR OVER FLORIDA -- As my USA 3000 flight was lifting off last night over beautiful Brevard County, the sun was setting in front of us.

When the crew said that the use of electronic devices was permitted, I whipped out my camera and starting shooting. The sky wasn't as brilliant as when we lifted off, but it was still great.

Most of these were taken in North Florida, where some stormy weather created some turbulence. The thundercloud in the photo above contained lightning. I was able to catch some of the purplish glow from the lightning and the reddish hues from the sunset.

I finally have Internet access at my friends' house in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington. I'll be posting more photos later, of course.

Before reaching the clouds, I could see the glow of the lights below and, of course, one of the many lakes in Florida. This is somewhere north of Orlando.

The blue sky, above, was equally as magnificent as the red sky, below.