Headed west to Montana for a wedding and some sightseeing.
Was wondering about what to expect in airports and along the way , but mostly excited to get back in the saddle and fly to new places.
Airports were a bit of an illusion ; less than full capacity for planes in the air , staff in place , amenities were reduced and they were adapting to new protocols. The mirage part is that airports are packed with people going somewhere , and then some , comparable to pre-pandemic levels , and service and routines fall through the cracks ; not terrible , but flyer beware .
Put 1500 miles on a car in Montana in nine days, a rental car I was darn lucky to get. Great time with family and traveling companion, Deano.
Panic struck when I woke up in the middle of the night to check out the glacier national Park website and found you needed to have a ticket in advance to enter . My time to get one had passed since I was just a few hours from beginning my trek . Tickets are to limit the visitors , which , by the way , are up 25% from pre pandemic visitor levels .
Where there’s a will there’s a way; nature has its way of detouring you with snow , avalanches etc. but man was the road black this time.
As I continued to look for solutions , I learned that tickets are required from 6 AM to 5 PM and that it is free entry before and after that. No problem !
Since I was up anyway and on East Coast time , I got to the park at 5:30 AM and enjoyed a couple hours before the crowds and watched the sunrise over the mountains , lakes and trees in glacier national Park .
I won’t go on with my travel blog , but will tie it to making the most of one’s adventures and enjoying the next person‘s story.
This sweet gray-haired , demure woman in her 60s , standing all of 5 foot , talked about her plan to retire and her family. She had a slight limp and appeared hard-working and unassuming.She was the driver of the hotel shuttle that took me to the airport , bookkeeper, reservation clerk and part time manager of that hotel .
I couldn’t resist one more question and then I learned she has a 3rd degree black belt , soon to be a master in TaeKwon-Do , had two hip surgeries she’s recovered from and ran track at Michigan State, managing her diabetes and is ready for more . I love it !
She is teaching martial arts and engaging a younger instructor to demonstrate the more difficult moves. As an aside , not long ago , I learned that a 98 year old women became the first women to be declared a tenth level black belt , the highest level at the time.
My new friend may top that .
Most folks don’t ask me questions , and maybe I don’t give them a chance to.
She did ask me about what I did to stay active and I shared a bit. But when I’m talking , I don’t learn anything new.
Great to be back in the saddle, whether locally or traveling further distances. If you are considering traveling to “Someday Isle” today , consider journeying out sooner rather than later , as “someday I’ll” ... do this or do that , may never materialize !
Keep building your story , be proud of it , share it and relationships and outcomes will multiply !