While I only had two flights yesterday, they were relatively long -- Boise to Minneapolis and reversing back to Missoula, Montana. For roughly two and a half hours, I weathered another tuna sandwich in the cockpit. Does the captain have a gallon zip-lock bag full of tuna salad? I don't understand. The conversation then turned to politics. Great. And then religion. You know -- normal topics of conversation with someone you barely know. I sat there silently looking out at the Tetons.
I had about an hour or so in MSP before heading to Montana, so I went for a walk down the terminal, looking at the youthful and green gazes of new hires preparing to fly little CRJ-200s to Minot or Duluth. I remember being one of those starry eyed FOs looking at those big shiny CRJ-900s parked at the C-gates and wondering if I'd ever get to fly them out of MSP. The answer was no. I had to get a transfer to LAX in order for this to happen. With a swagger of, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did fly in on that," I grabbed some Chick-Fil-A and returned to the plane. A few hours later, we had touched down in Missoula.
The following morning, I woke up to explore the area. The hotel was very close to the University of Montana, so I explored. There is a switchback trail up to a giant "M" on the hillside, and I was feeling ambitious. There were numerous people out walking. Everyone was very friendly -- greeting me with a, "Good Mornin'!" and a smile. No politics, no tuna. It was a nice change of pace. Breathing somewhat labored, I finally reached the "M." It offered a good view of campus and of the entire town of Missoula. It all seems very quaint. I worked my way back down, which was much easier, and zig-zagged around the campus for a bit before returning to the hotel. I think I earned a trip to Chick-Fil-A once I get back to MSP today.
Today is going to be similar to yesterday in that I go east to come back west -- only overnighting in Helena instead of Missoula. I haven't really spent much time in Montana in my entire life, so this is all interesting to me. With any luck, the air will be smooth and the captain will have run out of tuna by now.
