The toils of travel

I'm already back in California,and Montana feels a million miles away. My last day there was split in two contrasting pieces. I spent a quiet morning on a couple-hour mountain bike ride with my sister, then hung out at Larry's Lake relaxing in the sun (it's actually called Hanson Doyle, but my dad decided his name better suited it when we bought property on its north edge). The second half was a brutal 12-hour trip home, involving delayed flights and crying babies.

My flight was to leave Kalispell at 4:20 p.m. have a two and a half hour layover in Missoula, then another one in Seattle. I was hoping to get it changed so I could get into Sacramento earlier than 10:30 p.m. as planned. The lady sent me directly from Kalispell to Seattle and then booked a flight at about 6:30 p.m. from Seattle to Sac.

Well that didn't quite work out since my flight out of Kalispell was delayed. They ended up putting me back on my original flight from Seattle to Sacramento. For this, I traded my window seat in the back of the plane for one sitting right behind a crying baby and in front a teen with dread locks who, if felt like, was practicing kick boxing on the back of my seat. I was counting on some sleep on that flight, but it was hard to come by. The baby wasn't just like a bleating newborn - this kid had lungs. She spent most the trip screaming full on, to the point she almost choked herself. The guy I was sitting next to and I resorted to playing peek-a-boo over the seat, but that only distracted her for about five minutes at a time, and I can only play that game for so long.

My second flight was late, too, so by the time I got off the plane and went to the baggage claim, I was annoyed at everyone and everything - the girl talking loudly and incessantly about her trip to France ... the two teenagers nuzzling each other in front of me ... the guy standing a little too close behind me ... even the buzzer that signaled the coming of our luggage.

I was a little nervous mine wouldn't make it in all the confusion, but it did. Thank God. If it hadn't I might have had to throw a tantrum of my own.

It didn't end there. I missed my bus stop when being taken to my car, then forgot my purse on the bus when I did get off. I ended up chasing it to the next stop wheeling my luggage behind me. As I walked back to where my car was, all I could think was, "I really should not be driving right now."

I did make it, though the exit I needed on my way home was closed, and I had to go the long way. I got home at 2 a.m., just in time for about five hours of sleep before I went back to work today. My bed has never felt so good.

I meant to write a post yesterday about our kayaking trip Sunday, but didn't have time. So here is what I might have written:

It pays to be an only child. Ever since my sisters and I moved out, Terry gets a new toy each month. My dad just bought a motor fishing boat (which we took out Saturday) and then my step-mom hooked him up with a kayak. She - of course - had to buy one for herself.

My sister and her boyfriend, Brad, also bought one for each of them. I remember when Amanda told me I was surprised and figured she would never use it. Now I want one.

So we took the four of them and a canoe out on the North Fork of the Flathead River. Anna came along, and we rotated riding in the various boats.

At one point, we went through a particularly hairy section,with about four-foot waves. Only Terry's kayak has a skirt, so you take on quite a bit of water in the kayaks when the water splashes over the nose. My step-mom made it through, but it shook her up a bit and she asked me to switch with her (since I was in the canoe).

So I did and we came up on the next set of rapids. My boat filled up pretty quick, but I managed to get it to the side to empty it out. I turned around just in time to see the bottom of the canoe as it dumped Anna, Mom and Dad into the water.

I guess the canoe only offered a false sense of safety.

Anna and Mom floated down and off to the side, leaving dad with the canoe, which by this time was almost wrapped around a rock. He was able to get it off when Brad went up to help him, but for awhile it looked as if the boat was going to snap it two.

The amazing part was that we didn't lose very much, just a fishing pole, and the canoe only has a few dings in it. Everything else was tied on well enough. I'm glad we ate lunch before we went through that section though, because everything filled up with river water.

Lessons Learned: Stick with the kayak and your original flight arraignments.