Montana - The Journey Out
25 June 2009
0850 EDT
Flight #CO (I've forgotten) from Newark, NJ to Phoenix, AZ
I have no idea what the local time is, since there is not a running monologue kept at 36,000 feet. No big deal – flying itself is joy enough. It started out well enough and took no time at all to sail through the seemingly permanent cloud cover that New Jersey has been mired in for ages. It was a welcome sight to see blue sky and the cloud layer under us. Sweet relief!
This is a mid-sized airplane, not a puddle jumper but not a jumbo jet by any means. The seats are just what you’d expect when not flying first class. I suddenly wish I’d been willing to pony up the $1,800 to fly first class… but that is patently absurd and in some ways, not worth it.
My riding companions are diverse. Originally there was a whiny young kid in front of me (always a heartwarming experience… kill, kill…), and the mother kept lying to the two- or three-year-old, who liked enunciate, “NO!” anytime a plane flew away. Why people go anywhere with a kid that age in tow, I don’t know. Now the whole family is playing musical plane seats, delightful. And there is that telltale ache in my lower midsection – my bladder reminding me that another three hours of this is out of the question.
I quite agree but am unwilling as yet to fight my way to the loo. I’ll do so soon enough.
Breakfast was rather palatable, surprisingly. I took a picture of it (of course – the joy of having a 16GB chip and over 4,700 images!); a small carton of corn flakes, 2% milk, A banana and a cranberry muffin. Perfect – just enough to make a meal and to get my medicine down.
Returning to my travel mates, I’ve no idea who is behind me… one or two kicks to my chair and that was it. Funny thing about this… not the people behind, but the one next to me – Dave mentioned to me yesterday that I watch the Mormons while I wait in Salt Lake City’s airport. And I had responded, “Don’t Mormons look just like us? How would I tell them apart?” He chuckled and said, “You can pretend that the ones you see are Mormons.”
Well, I guarantee you that the under 21-year-old next to me is just that – a Mormon. They don’t always dress differently, but some do and this is one. Long heavy black skirt, a pink and white striped long-sleeved shirt and a white tee-shirt collared looking thing underneath. Some sects if not all wear “sacred underwear” and now that I’ve seen it, the look is rather distinctive. And the hair… it is not the strange look of the really whacky secular Mormons, but it is the swept back on the top, clipped, then a ponytail below with mid-length silky hair. I’ve never seen a picture of a Mormon woman with close-cropped hair like mine, or worse, curly hair (which is what mine would be had I kept it long).
Where ever we are, it is flat, flat as a pancake. I’m always amused when people tell me that New Jersey is flat. It is by no means mountainous, but it is not flat, either. Nebraska is flat. Kansas is flat. New Jersey has contours. The ground here is not clear – it’s summer and so the haze is pervasive, but it is visible. Delightfully so! It’s been so miserably overcast in rainy in New Jersey that this is a beautiful thing.
Now we’ve run into turbulence… not major, but enough to make it a bit bumpy. It isn’t the stuff you read about with dips of ten feet that leaves one’s water hanging in midair without the vessel it was in. Proof of the clear air – turbulence only happens in clear skies, where up- and down-drafts occur. People never realize that poor weather is sometimes a smoother flight.
Turbulence has no effect on me, as flying is fun and I feel perfectly comfortable – other than the chair being designed by Torquemada. That is one thing that does make first class worthwhile. The one time we flew first class it certainly was comfortable.
This is the first trip I’ve taken where some night flying wasn’t involved. I love to at night – the clarity of sky, the millions of visible stars… and the last time I flew at night (coming home from Texas) there was a huge thunderstorm system below us and the play of lightning through the clouds was staggering, awesome – and completely unphotographable. (I’ll think of the correct verbiage eventually…)
My battery is doing well! It charged very quickly last night and I haven’t used it in a long time. I really should use it from time to time…
That interesting patchwork quilt is under us now, so we must be over the southern mid-states. The Captain had mentioned that to our left was Washington DC (that was maybe 15 minutes into the flight), and we’d be passing over Lexington, KY; Tennessee and Arkansas. I imagine that they all look the same to some degree from this height.
Uh-oh… Needing to go to the bathroom at this height is not like needing to go on the ground… ‘Scuse me!
0938 EDT
Good gods. I know on a scientific level the differences in biology between being sea level and almost 40,000 feet above the earth, but to feel is something altogether different! My twinge of “at some point you must use the facilities” turned into GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR in the blink of an eye, and I was bouncing up and down waiting for one of the loos to become vacant! When did that happen?
It’s been years since I’ve had to avail myself of the closet sized bathrooms (a misnomer, since there is no bath of any kind in there) found only on trains and airplanes. It is no longer quite the contortionist that can use these, as we are – in general – a fatter nation. But it is by no means roomy. I was sufficiently motivated, however, that is was a relief to go.
The toilet is a round, tiny metal affair that is not up to more than urine or a very “polite” defacation. It was a bit chilly, but so what when you need to go that badly. I only need to urinate, fortuitously – I’d hate to put that thing to the test for more – or to do that to the next user. I did not see an air freshener anywhere. The loo, by the way, was immaculate. No unpleasant odors, no mess, just tiny, as you'd expect. Oh, the toilet paper! I thought I might pass out - double ply and soft and wow! When's the last time that happened?
When I hit the button to “flush” (such as it was), there was nothing until I released the button, then this unbelievable WHOOSH! as it dumped from the plane entirely. I have to wonder about that… does it go into a holding cell until it hits a specific number of tonnage? Or does it dump out of a long tube to ensure not getting the offal all over the bottom of the plane? Does it break up enough in the atmosphere that no feces makes it to the ground like a meteorite? Yikes… what a lousy epitaph that would be… “whilst staring at the sky he was struck by shit”. Not what I’d want my headstone to read.
Wherever we are, the water table is low… the river snaking along the earth is mostly silt. Not good for the locals… I just got rid of a couple of old cups and the flight attendant is going to find out where we are. I know it’s a southern route and it is almost ten, so there is another two hours and a bit to go, so… maybe… Kansas or Arkansas. Let’s see… I don’t think we are over Oklahoma yet.
Anyway, I must have actually urinated a good solid 90 seconds. Think about it – how long does is actually take to evacuate your bladder? Maybe twenty seconds? Forty, if you’ve been really hitting the water or sugar-foods? Soda’ll do that, too. I don’t drink it, but I know my cousin used to have to go all the time when she did. Tea, a diuretic, has the same effect. Well, I went for three times that long. It felt so gratifying. I can’t explain it. It always feel good to empty one’s bladder, but that was remarkable – which is why I am remarking on it! I don’t make observations unless they really need to be made.
The battery is holding out nicely on the laptop but eventually I am going to have to stop. I want some juice left for the hop from Phoenix, Arizona to Salt Lake City. The time in between flights is not enough to recharge – it’s less than an hour. I may try to purchase a notepad when I’m in Phoenix… we’ll see. My first mission is to get to the right gate and see what time is like. I’m hoping it will be the same gate or one over – what are those odds?
The flight attendant forgot to find out where we were, so she asked if I wanted to know where we are now or where we were. I smiled and said both. She’s finding out. The dry river I’m curious about… and I can’t imagine we’ve gotten that far since my original query. It looks drier as a whole but we are heading to the American Southwest, which is mostly desert of some kind. It’s just not big-dunes desert.
I loved Palm Springs when I went with Luis in 1999. Loved it! I am meant to live in the desert at some point and make it a point to tell Luis to save his shekels as I plan to retire there. He’s never argued or made a comment that we won’t be retiring together so as long as we both live long enough, that is our final destination.
The rich, lush green of the northeastern states is fast disappearing. The ground is a pale green, some dun, and just little bits of dark green where there are likely coniferous trees. I will be in heaven in Helena – it’s all coniferous trees where Dave is. He’s something like 5,000 feet above sea level – how cool is that?! I’ve been as high as 8,000 feet and never had so much as a twinge of trouble from the altitude. I’m hoping – and quite confident – that we will exceed that height.
I don’t want to scale Mount Everest. I’ve read and heard about some of the deleterious effects from the trip and that is just sheer screaming stupidity to do that kind of harm to one’s body to scale a mountain. I don’t doubt that it is a gorgeous, unbelievable sight – but that is what photography is for!
I think I’ve been forgotten again…
There are tiny ice crystals forming at the bottom of my porthole. (This is NOT a window… for one thing, I can’t open it. Just as well, I know. I would have a tough time resisting it if it did open!)
We’ve just passed over a small airport – really looks neat from up here!
My battery is fast disappearing now. Time to shut down until I can recharge.
26 June 2009
0943 MDT
Someday I must find an official in Arizona to ask what is up with the ban on Daylight Saving Time. However, the gentleman in Seat 30B agreed that Daylight Saving Time is absurd and should be banned everywhere. Here is a fun little detail for you: Arizona is three hours behind except for the Native American Reservations - they follow the clock changes; Illionios does not do it full stop and half of Indiana does and half doesn't. Now that is a bit weird.
Back to my long old journey.
The topography fascinated me the entire trip out but on flight #2 (Delta Airlines Flight #1478 from Phoenix, AZ to Salt Lake City, UT) I got the shaft and had to take an aisle seat. I was 30C. Not happy at all. I got one picture at the end of the hour plus flight. And I missed entirely getting any images of the Great Salt Lake! It was a very strange body of water - sort of a white-ish blue on the one side and a dirty loden green on the other. Dave suggested algea for the green but I doubt that any algea can stand to grow in that much salt.
The run from the first flight to the second damn near killed me. I had to race my ass off from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3 by taking a bus and zipping through to what seemed like the furthest point from where the bus was parked. It was 93 degrees, which was staggeringly hot after cool cloudy New Jersey, but almost as humid - it was quite disgusting. It was cloudy and miserable there, too. Maybe the whole country has issues with the weather this year...
The airport there is totally different from Newark and other airports in that the Security checks where everywhere. I had to go through it all again, and did not make it through the first two times. I emptied my pockets and beeped. I took off my watch and beeped. I had the laptop out, the shoes off, but I beeped anyway. I finally made it though the third time. The guy was trying to not to laugh at all my little sarcastic comments. Good to know my sense of humour works on Homeland Security!
I got to the gate and was very relieved to see that boarding had not yet begun. I asked if I had time to make a pitstop and grab water. I did. I was hugely relieved not to have to use another airplane loo. And when I returned the line was there and boarding.
I was, like the first flight, waaaaaay back. I usually pick seats farther back to make for good pictures and because my timing is such that the good seats are taken in the front of the wing. When Luis and I went to Las Vegas two ye--
Oh! There was a chipmunk right under my hanging chair! Right here, just looking up at me as if to say, "What are you doing here?" When's the last time you saw a chipmunk do that? In New Jersey they are a more richly coloured group but completely standoffish. Not here! And last night there were deer - but I get ahead of myself...
--anyway, two years ago we flew out and I arranged my seat and it was about 20 rows behind Luis and Nick. Works for me - I sat next to a very nice woman and took millions of images.
It is so gorgeous out here. No mystery why people live out here. It's cool and remote and just beautiful!
Anyway, I read for a large portion of this flight and then at the last half-hour got into a conversation with the woman who had the coveted window seat. She is a college graduate who went for an interview in Salt Lake City. Hopefully she did well.
The Salt Lake City airport is awful. I hated the layout and the gates and it was a total MOB SCENE when I got in. I did find a pair of earrings and matching necklace in malachite, though, and totally loved it. And for $42 in sterling silver, I was very happy.
I was there for over two hours and completely confused about the fact that I'd gotten in around 1249 when my watch (adjusted for Arizona) read 1149. The flight was a straight shot north - how could the time have changed...? Remember what I told you about Arizona and Daylight Saving Time? Right. That.
I wandered around, browsed some shops, found a magnet for the Business Office from Utah, some postcards and then sat around reading when I realised I'd packet my power for the laptop in my stowed luggage - dammit. I had my battery down to the last bit and did not want to try to connect. It was a long boring time. I finally saw my flight boarding - Delta Flight #4574 Salt Lake City, UT to Helena, MT - and asked the guy there what I had to do to get a window seat. He gave me a new boarding pass with 4D as my seat - yay! As it happens, the flight was more than half empty, unlike the other two, which were loaded to the eyeballs.
It was a great flight! I loved it and I love flying - and more so on small planes - than usual. The plane took off, went through the clouds and leveled off at 24,000 feet. Blue skies and mountains, mostly. As we headed steadily north, the sky at first cleared but then became cloudy. As we approached Helena and began to ascend, the pilot came on and mentioned that the ride would get a little "bumpy". I grinned - turbulence doesn't bother me unless I am operating on an empty stomach - something I never do.
He wasn't kidding, but I guarantee you I was the only person on that flight smiling and laughing and enjoying the up and down roller coaster feeling of the air currents. It made my arms feel leaden at times but I still loved it. And when we were coming into Helena for our landing, not once but twice I saw lightning directly strike the mountain to our right and slightly behind us. I was oooo-ing, but I don't think anyone else saw them. The only thing that would have made me happier at that moment was if I could've gotten a shot of it!
The plane landed and we were off fairly quickly. I stepped outside... and it did not feel like 86 degrees - but it was very windy! That was a surprise. But the air was crisp, clear and so fresh - a welcome change from the airports and my brief excursion outside in Arizona.
Dave was just down the road and came to pick me up. I was quite exhausted but very happy to be here. We chatted the whole ride home and then got my things settled. We went out to the top of the mountain his house is on to see the view and his cam (http://mtncam.coolcybercats.com/view/index.shtml). That, however, is a story for later.
0850 EDT
Flight #CO (I've forgotten) from Newark, NJ to Phoenix, AZ
I have no idea what the local time is, since there is not a running monologue kept at 36,000 feet. No big deal – flying itself is joy enough. It started out well enough and took no time at all to sail through the seemingly permanent cloud cover that New Jersey has been mired in for ages. It was a welcome sight to see blue sky and the cloud layer under us. Sweet relief!
This is a mid-sized airplane, not a puddle jumper but not a jumbo jet by any means. The seats are just what you’d expect when not flying first class. I suddenly wish I’d been willing to pony up the $1,800 to fly first class… but that is patently absurd and in some ways, not worth it.
My riding companions are diverse. Originally there was a whiny young kid in front of me (always a heartwarming experience… kill, kill…), and the mother kept lying to the two- or three-year-old, who liked enunciate, “NO!” anytime a plane flew away. Why people go anywhere with a kid that age in tow, I don’t know. Now the whole family is playing musical plane seats, delightful. And there is that telltale ache in my lower midsection – my bladder reminding me that another three hours of this is out of the question.
I quite agree but am unwilling as yet to fight my way to the loo. I’ll do so soon enough.
Breakfast was rather palatable, surprisingly. I took a picture of it (of course – the joy of having a 16GB chip and over 4,700 images!); a small carton of corn flakes, 2% milk, A banana and a cranberry muffin. Perfect – just enough to make a meal and to get my medicine down.
Returning to my travel mates, I’ve no idea who is behind me… one or two kicks to my chair and that was it. Funny thing about this… not the people behind, but the one next to me – Dave mentioned to me yesterday that I watch the Mormons while I wait in Salt Lake City’s airport. And I had responded, “Don’t Mormons look just like us? How would I tell them apart?” He chuckled and said, “You can pretend that the ones you see are Mormons.”
Well, I guarantee you that the under 21-year-old next to me is just that – a Mormon. They don’t always dress differently, but some do and this is one. Long heavy black skirt, a pink and white striped long-sleeved shirt and a white tee-shirt collared looking thing underneath. Some sects if not all wear “sacred underwear” and now that I’ve seen it, the look is rather distinctive. And the hair… it is not the strange look of the really whacky secular Mormons, but it is the swept back on the top, clipped, then a ponytail below with mid-length silky hair. I’ve never seen a picture of a Mormon woman with close-cropped hair like mine, or worse, curly hair (which is what mine would be had I kept it long).
Where ever we are, it is flat, flat as a pancake. I’m always amused when people tell me that New Jersey is flat. It is by no means mountainous, but it is not flat, either. Nebraska is flat. Kansas is flat. New Jersey has contours. The ground here is not clear – it’s summer and so the haze is pervasive, but it is visible. Delightfully so! It’s been so miserably overcast in rainy in New Jersey that this is a beautiful thing.
Now we’ve run into turbulence… not major, but enough to make it a bit bumpy. It isn’t the stuff you read about with dips of ten feet that leaves one’s water hanging in midair without the vessel it was in. Proof of the clear air – turbulence only happens in clear skies, where up- and down-drafts occur. People never realize that poor weather is sometimes a smoother flight.
Turbulence has no effect on me, as flying is fun and I feel perfectly comfortable – other than the chair being designed by Torquemada. That is one thing that does make first class worthwhile. The one time we flew first class it certainly was comfortable.
This is the first trip I’ve taken where some night flying wasn’t involved. I love to at night – the clarity of sky, the millions of visible stars… and the last time I flew at night (coming home from Texas) there was a huge thunderstorm system below us and the play of lightning through the clouds was staggering, awesome – and completely unphotographable. (I’ll think of the correct verbiage eventually…)
My battery is doing well! It charged very quickly last night and I haven’t used it in a long time. I really should use it from time to time…
That interesting patchwork quilt is under us now, so we must be over the southern mid-states. The Captain had mentioned that to our left was Washington DC (that was maybe 15 minutes into the flight), and we’d be passing over Lexington, KY; Tennessee and Arkansas. I imagine that they all look the same to some degree from this height.
Uh-oh… Needing to go to the bathroom at this height is not like needing to go on the ground… ‘Scuse me!
0938 EDT
Good gods. I know on a scientific level the differences in biology between being sea level and almost 40,000 feet above the earth, but to feel is something altogether different! My twinge of “at some point you must use the facilities” turned into GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR in the blink of an eye, and I was bouncing up and down waiting for one of the loos to become vacant! When did that happen?
It’s been years since I’ve had to avail myself of the closet sized bathrooms (a misnomer, since there is no bath of any kind in there) found only on trains and airplanes. It is no longer quite the contortionist that can use these, as we are – in general – a fatter nation. But it is by no means roomy. I was sufficiently motivated, however, that is was a relief to go.
The toilet is a round, tiny metal affair that is not up to more than urine or a very “polite” defacation. It was a bit chilly, but so what when you need to go that badly. I only need to urinate, fortuitously – I’d hate to put that thing to the test for more – or to do that to the next user. I did not see an air freshener anywhere. The loo, by the way, was immaculate. No unpleasant odors, no mess, just tiny, as you'd expect. Oh, the toilet paper! I thought I might pass out - double ply and soft and wow! When's the last time that happened?
When I hit the button to “flush” (such as it was), there was nothing until I released the button, then this unbelievable WHOOSH! as it dumped from the plane entirely. I have to wonder about that… does it go into a holding cell until it hits a specific number of tonnage? Or does it dump out of a long tube to ensure not getting the offal all over the bottom of the plane? Does it break up enough in the atmosphere that no feces makes it to the ground like a meteorite? Yikes… what a lousy epitaph that would be… “whilst staring at the sky he was struck by shit”. Not what I’d want my headstone to read.
Wherever we are, the water table is low… the river snaking along the earth is mostly silt. Not good for the locals… I just got rid of a couple of old cups and the flight attendant is going to find out where we are. I know it’s a southern route and it is almost ten, so there is another two hours and a bit to go, so… maybe… Kansas or Arkansas. Let’s see… I don’t think we are over Oklahoma yet.
Anyway, I must have actually urinated a good solid 90 seconds. Think about it – how long does is actually take to evacuate your bladder? Maybe twenty seconds? Forty, if you’ve been really hitting the water or sugar-foods? Soda’ll do that, too. I don’t drink it, but I know my cousin used to have to go all the time when she did. Tea, a diuretic, has the same effect. Well, I went for three times that long. It felt so gratifying. I can’t explain it. It always feel good to empty one’s bladder, but that was remarkable – which is why I am remarking on it! I don’t make observations unless they really need to be made.
The battery is holding out nicely on the laptop but eventually I am going to have to stop. I want some juice left for the hop from Phoenix, Arizona to Salt Lake City. The time in between flights is not enough to recharge – it’s less than an hour. I may try to purchase a notepad when I’m in Phoenix… we’ll see. My first mission is to get to the right gate and see what time is like. I’m hoping it will be the same gate or one over – what are those odds?
The flight attendant forgot to find out where we were, so she asked if I wanted to know where we are now or where we were. I smiled and said both. She’s finding out. The dry river I’m curious about… and I can’t imagine we’ve gotten that far since my original query. It looks drier as a whole but we are heading to the American Southwest, which is mostly desert of some kind. It’s just not big-dunes desert.
I loved Palm Springs when I went with Luis in 1999. Loved it! I am meant to live in the desert at some point and make it a point to tell Luis to save his shekels as I plan to retire there. He’s never argued or made a comment that we won’t be retiring together so as long as we both live long enough, that is our final destination.
The rich, lush green of the northeastern states is fast disappearing. The ground is a pale green, some dun, and just little bits of dark green where there are likely coniferous trees. I will be in heaven in Helena – it’s all coniferous trees where Dave is. He’s something like 5,000 feet above sea level – how cool is that?! I’ve been as high as 8,000 feet and never had so much as a twinge of trouble from the altitude. I’m hoping – and quite confident – that we will exceed that height.
I don’t want to scale Mount Everest. I’ve read and heard about some of the deleterious effects from the trip and that is just sheer screaming stupidity to do that kind of harm to one’s body to scale a mountain. I don’t doubt that it is a gorgeous, unbelievable sight – but that is what photography is for!
I think I’ve been forgotten again…
There are tiny ice crystals forming at the bottom of my porthole. (This is NOT a window… for one thing, I can’t open it. Just as well, I know. I would have a tough time resisting it if it did open!)
We’ve just passed over a small airport – really looks neat from up here!
My battery is fast disappearing now. Time to shut down until I can recharge.
26 June 2009
0943 MDT
Someday I must find an official in Arizona to ask what is up with the ban on Daylight Saving Time. However, the gentleman in Seat 30B agreed that Daylight Saving Time is absurd and should be banned everywhere. Here is a fun little detail for you: Arizona is three hours behind except for the Native American Reservations - they follow the clock changes; Illionios does not do it full stop and half of Indiana does and half doesn't. Now that is a bit weird.
Back to my long old journey.
The topography fascinated me the entire trip out but on flight #2 (Delta Airlines Flight #1478 from Phoenix, AZ to Salt Lake City, UT) I got the shaft and had to take an aisle seat. I was 30C. Not happy at all. I got one picture at the end of the hour plus flight. And I missed entirely getting any images of the Great Salt Lake! It was a very strange body of water - sort of a white-ish blue on the one side and a dirty loden green on the other. Dave suggested algea for the green but I doubt that any algea can stand to grow in that much salt.
The run from the first flight to the second damn near killed me. I had to race my ass off from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3 by taking a bus and zipping through to what seemed like the furthest point from where the bus was parked. It was 93 degrees, which was staggeringly hot after cool cloudy New Jersey, but almost as humid - it was quite disgusting. It was cloudy and miserable there, too. Maybe the whole country has issues with the weather this year...
The airport there is totally different from Newark and other airports in that the Security checks where everywhere. I had to go through it all again, and did not make it through the first two times. I emptied my pockets and beeped. I took off my watch and beeped. I had the laptop out, the shoes off, but I beeped anyway. I finally made it though the third time. The guy was trying to not to laugh at all my little sarcastic comments. Good to know my sense of humour works on Homeland Security!
I got to the gate and was very relieved to see that boarding had not yet begun. I asked if I had time to make a pitstop and grab water. I did. I was hugely relieved not to have to use another airplane loo. And when I returned the line was there and boarding.
I was, like the first flight, waaaaaay back. I usually pick seats farther back to make for good pictures and because my timing is such that the good seats are taken in the front of the wing. When Luis and I went to Las Vegas two ye--
Oh! There was a chipmunk right under my hanging chair! Right here, just looking up at me as if to say, "What are you doing here?" When's the last time you saw a chipmunk do that? In New Jersey they are a more richly coloured group but completely standoffish. Not here! And last night there were deer - but I get ahead of myself...
--anyway, two years ago we flew out and I arranged my seat and it was about 20 rows behind Luis and Nick. Works for me - I sat next to a very nice woman and took millions of images.
It is so gorgeous out here. No mystery why people live out here. It's cool and remote and just beautiful!
Anyway, I read for a large portion of this flight and then at the last half-hour got into a conversation with the woman who had the coveted window seat. She is a college graduate who went for an interview in Salt Lake City. Hopefully she did well.
The Salt Lake City airport is awful. I hated the layout and the gates and it was a total MOB SCENE when I got in. I did find a pair of earrings and matching necklace in malachite, though, and totally loved it. And for $42 in sterling silver, I was very happy.
I was there for over two hours and completely confused about the fact that I'd gotten in around 1249 when my watch (adjusted for Arizona) read 1149. The flight was a straight shot north - how could the time have changed...? Remember what I told you about Arizona and Daylight Saving Time? Right. That.
I wandered around, browsed some shops, found a magnet for the Business Office from Utah, some postcards and then sat around reading when I realised I'd packet my power for the laptop in my stowed luggage - dammit. I had my battery down to the last bit and did not want to try to connect. It was a long boring time. I finally saw my flight boarding - Delta Flight #4574 Salt Lake City, UT to Helena, MT - and asked the guy there what I had to do to get a window seat. He gave me a new boarding pass with 4D as my seat - yay! As it happens, the flight was more than half empty, unlike the other two, which were loaded to the eyeballs.
It was a great flight! I loved it and I love flying - and more so on small planes - than usual. The plane took off, went through the clouds and leveled off at 24,000 feet. Blue skies and mountains, mostly. As we headed steadily north, the sky at first cleared but then became cloudy. As we approached Helena and began to ascend, the pilot came on and mentioned that the ride would get a little "bumpy". I grinned - turbulence doesn't bother me unless I am operating on an empty stomach - something I never do.
He wasn't kidding, but I guarantee you I was the only person on that flight smiling and laughing and enjoying the up and down roller coaster feeling of the air currents. It made my arms feel leaden at times but I still loved it. And when we were coming into Helena for our landing, not once but twice I saw lightning directly strike the mountain to our right and slightly behind us. I was oooo-ing, but I don't think anyone else saw them. The only thing that would have made me happier at that moment was if I could've gotten a shot of it!
The plane landed and we were off fairly quickly. I stepped outside... and it did not feel like 86 degrees - but it was very windy! That was a surprise. But the air was crisp, clear and so fresh - a welcome change from the airports and my brief excursion outside in Arizona.
Dave was just down the road and came to pick me up. I was quite exhausted but very happy to be here. We chatted the whole ride home and then got my things settled. We went out to the top of the mountain his house is on to see the view and his cam (http://mtncam.coolcybercats.com/view/index.shtml). That, however, is a story for later.
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