Long before I was a Skytress, I worked for the St. Louis Cardinals. When people ask me what I did for the Cardinals I usually joke and say, I played third base. What is even funnier, people pause for just a moment to see if I am actually joking. Tonight as I write this blog, I am in Memphis. Autozone Park is across the street from our hotel. The St. Louis Cardinals minor league team plays in Autozone Park. Tonight is the Wild Card game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals. Hopefully it is fortuitous for the Cardinals that our layover hotel is next to the Memphis Cardinals ballpark. I shall find out if this is indeed true when I wake up in the wee hours of the morning to get ready for my day of flying. I am not going to watch the ballgame though. Nope. I don’t want to jinx my Cardinals. Now I can be very superstitious about certain things. I am most definitely superstitious when it comes to my Cardinals. My Cardinals had a tough season this year. Remarkably, they went on a 17-game winning streak and made it into the Wild Card game. I’ll admit. I didn’t watch one game during the winning streak. When the Cardinals started to win, I stopped watching. Yessiree. I am a loyal Cardinal fan. I didn’t want to mess up their good thing. Sadly, my friend Michael did. Yep. He’s a diehard Cincinnati Reds fan. He texted me the night the streak ended. BEFORE the streak ended. Of course, he said he meant no harm. However, I believe he knew his text would jinx the winning streak. And it did. I can’t prove it. But, I think he may be working undercover for the Cincinnati Reds. You see, our baseball teams are big rivals. Tonight Michael texted me to see if I was rooting for the Cardinals or for the Dodgers in the Wild Card game. Heck. I’m not falling for his jinx tactic again. Nope. I refuse to respond to his text until tomorrow. Hopefully, by not responding to his text, the jinx won’t be effective. All I can say is, if Michael didn’t mean any harm with his first text, he better be on his knees praying for a Cardinals victory. It wouldn’t surprise me, though, if Micheal is in cahoots with my friend Phillip. Phillip is a huge Dodgers fan. Last time I was in Los Angeles on a layover, Phillip invited me to go to Dodger Stadium. My Cardinals were playing the Dodgers. Phillip said I could root for my Cardinals. Egads! Of course I was going to root for them! I’m proud to report, my Cardinals beat the Dodgers. Now, I’m convinced Phillip teamed up with Michael to get back at me and my Cardinals. Yessiree. The conspiracy theories are swirling around my head these days. Tis the season of conspiracy theories for devoted baseball fans. Yes, folks. It’s called the “Post Season”. My Dad used to say, “Don’t take the World Series-ously”. My Dad always said this even though he knew darn well we always take the Wold Series seriously. After all, we are not just Cardinal fans. We are baseball fans.

News flash! Michael’s text-jinx worked. My Cardinals lost to the Dodgers. So, this coming year I will root twice as hard against the Reds as a payback to Michael. Funny, I never used to root against the Reds. Nope. I used to root for the Cincinnati Reds when I was younger and lived in Cincinnati. I loved The Big Red Machine! I even rooted for the Reds when I was a Skytess living in Cincinnati. Heck. I proudly welcomed the passengers to Cincinnati… “the home of the World Champion Cincinnati Reds” when they won the World Series in 1990. And I wasn’t even living there. No, I was living in Atlanta…..rooting for “America’s Team”. Don’t be shocked by this admission. I grew up watching the Braves with my best friends, Tara and Shannon. They grew up in Atlanta. Their family watched every Braves game. We talked about the Braves players and the games all the time. This didn’t change when I became a Skytress. Actually, the stories just got better. Being the official airline of the Atlanta Braves has it’s perks. There are always Braves stories to tell with relationship to my airline. Yessiree. I remember telling my friends the story of a Skytress that I flew with once. She assumed the guy she always saw at her pool was a Skyter. Apparently, just like her, he was always at the pool during the day. Not everyday. Just every few days like a person with a Skyter schedule would be. He, also, looked very familiar to her. She wondered if he looked familiar to her because she has seen him in the crew lounge before. So, one day she decided she would asked him if he was indeed a Skyter. He smiled and chuckled at her question. He understood why she would think he was a Skyter. After all, most people are at work during the day. He replied he wasn’t a Skyter. No sir. He played baseball for the Atlanta Braves. He explained to the Skytress he would come to the pool during the day and play baseball at night when the team was in town. As it turned out, that year the Braves won the World Series. I’ll admit. It’s pretty cool to be able to wear our airline wings. But, to be able to wear a World Series Championship ring….well, there really is no comparison. Plus, you can almost guarantee,….no one will ever mistake you for being an airline Skyter at the local swimming pool when you are sporting a Championship ring.

Years ago when I was a young Skytress flying out of Cincinnati, it came up in conversation that I worked for the Cardinals while I was in high school and college. My Skytress In-Charge got very excited when she heard this information. She immediately asked me if I would like to fly the Cardinals charter with her. You see, her husband was a friend of one of the Cardinal players. Apparently, the Cardinal players were tired of the senior Atlanta Skytresses working their charter flights. They wanted some young Skytresses to work their flights for a change. As luck would have it, Cincinnati Skytresses we’re scheduled to work their charter from Cincinnati to St. Louis the following month. I told my Skytress In-Charge I would put in for the charter. I’ll admit. I was a wee bit reluctant to fly the charter. I knew the Cardinals had some very lively characters on the team. I wasn’t sure how it would be working a flight with them. Nonetheless, I put in for the charter. A few days later, I pulled my request out of the computer. I had something else come up and I needed to be off the day of the Cardinal charter. I saw my Skytress In-Charge in the lounge one day and told her I wasn’t going to be able to work the charter flight. A few weeks later I happened to fly with the same Skytress. I inquired how the Cardinal charter went. She said it was awful. Without hesitation she told me she had to go to see the Chief Pilot immediately after the trip. I was shocked. I never heard of a Skytress doing this. It just didn’t happen back in those days. My Skytress In-Charge explained the players were extremely rowdy. Apparently, having a much younger crew working their flight must have been too much for the players. She explained the players made multiple sexual comments to the Skytresses working the flight.….among other unacceptable behaviors. She said the most appalling incident happened when they arrived in St. louis and the team started to deplane. One of the players grab the Skytress In-Charge’s boobs and heartily squeezed them as he deplaned. She was shocked by his brazen behavior. Worse, she felt extremely violated. The Captain was standing at the front of the plane next to her as the player groped her. When the Captain didn’t address the player and his inappropriate behavior, she said something to the Captain. The Captain’s response to her was, “Haven’t you ever had anyone grab your boobs before?” This comment incensed her. She said she walked off the airplane and walked directly into the Chief Pilot’s office to complained about the Captain. The Chief Pilot told her he would talk to the pilot. He assured her he would address the Captain’s comments and lack of leadership in this particular situation. After I listened to the Skytress’ entire story, I told her I was sorry she was placed in this uncomfortable situation. Then I told her I had a bad feeling about this charter….and I was right. I love my Cardinals. But, I was definitely relieved I didn’t work this charter. Years later, our airline and professional sports teams decided to have dedicated Skytresses and Skyters working their charters. These days Skytresses and Skyters have to apply and go through an interview process to be selected to be in the sports charter program. Fortunately for everyone involved, there is more accountability when it comes to sports charters compared to years ago. Yes. It’s a whole new ballgame. Thank goodness.

My Cardinals may not be the best airline passengers. But gosh darn it, they are usually spectacular post season baseball players. I’ll admit. I am a wee bit spoiled because my Cardinals have played in numerous post season games. We like to call the post season, “Cardinal Season”. Catchy, isn’t it? One night I was laying over in Greensboro at the airport. My crew decided we would meet in the restaurant for dinner. The television production crews for the NASCAR race were staying at our hotel. Just like us, the production crews decided to meet up in the restaurant. The hotel restaurant opened up into the hotel lobby. There wasn’t a wall separating the two areas. It was a very casual atmosphere, to say the least. My crew and I were having a grand time chit-chatting with the NASCAR folks. As a result, I completely forgot my Cardinals were playing in the playoffs that evening. I had just returned to my hotel room when Ron texted me. He wanted to see how my day of flying had been. I told him about the NASCAR people. He kidded me about hanging out with the NASCAR people when there was a perfectly good playoff game happening with my Cardinals. Yessiree. While I was hanging out with my crew and the NASCAR people, Ron was at home in Atlanta rooting for my Cardinals. I was extremely impressed. As I turned the ballgame on in my hotel room, I teased Ron that he was now an official member of “Cardinals Nation”. Ron must have been the Cardinals secret post season weapon. The Cardinals won the game that night.

Remember my friend Michael, “The Jinxster”? Michael and I decided one year we would call a truce to our Reds-Cardinals rivalry. We decided that year we would root for the Chicago Cubs. As it would happen, this is the year the Cubs won the World Series. You’re welcome Cubs fans! I hope you enjoyed the victory because Michael and I decided our rivalry was much better than the Cubs winning another World Series. Yessiree. It wasn’t easy for us to see the Cubs win. I’ll admit. I did root for the Cubs. I wanted my Cubby friends to finally win a World Series. If only so I didn’t have to hear about “The Curse” anymore. Egads!!! I’ll admit. As a true baseball fan, I was happy to actually see the Cubs win. I was laying over in Las Vegas the night the Cubs won. Fortunately for me, we stay at a swanky hotel in Las Vegas. I was prepared to thoroughly enjoy my layover watching the World Series. The first thing I did when I entered my hotel room was head over to the television to turn it on. I didn’t want to fool around at the last minute trying to find the channel broadcasting the ballgame. I was gobsmacked when my television didn’t work. I made sure everything was plugged in properly. It was. Sadly folks, this is the extent of my television troubleshooting expertise. I contemplated just watching the game in the bathroom. Ah, yes. There are televisions in our Las Vegas hotel bathrooms. And there is a lovely jacuzzis tub to boot. It’s the only tub I would ever fathom soaking in on a layover. But heck, I didn’t want to sit for 9 innings in a tub watching the World Series….no matter how swanky the hotel bath was. So instead, I called the front desk and asked them to send a maintenance man to my room. Thankfully the gentleman came rather quickly. He was having some issues trying to get the television to work. I told him I wouldn’t normally care about watching TV. Only I wanted to watch the final game of the World Series. I told him I was prepared to pack up all my belongings and get a new room if I had too. Fortunately after some finagling, the kind gentleman was able to get the television to work. Minutes later, I settled in my comfy bed to watch the game. I kid you not. When the Cubs won, fireworks went off outside our hotel. I was flabbergasted and tickled by the whole celebration. A few minutes later my cell phone rang. It was Ron. He called to see if I had watched the Cubs win the World Series. I told him I was watching the celebration on television as we spoke. He was amazed when I told him fireworks were going off outside the hotel. We laughed at the absurdity of it all. We ended up talking forever on the phone. Yes. The Cubs won the World Series that night. However, it was the marathon phone conversation afterwards that was the highlight of the evening for us. Yessiree. It’s a beautiful memory I will cherish forever.

Since Michael jinxed the Cardinals this year, I was forced to watch the Dodgers play instead. Luckily Mary Hart sits behind home plate at the Dodgers games. I’ll admit. I watched Mary Hart instead of the game most of the time. What can I say? I’m a bigger fan of Mary Hart than I am of the Dodgers. For those of you wondering….I’ve finally decided which team I am going to root for this post season. Being a baseball fan, I’m obligated to pick a team. Needless to say, for this Cardinal fan, it will be a consolation victory for me if this team wins. I’m sure you all are sitting on the edge of your seats wondering which team I am going to root for to win the World Series. Well, my lips are sealed. I’m not going to let Michael jinx this team, too. Egads! I know….I know. I shouldn’t take the World Series-ously . But, I do. After all, I am my father’s daughter.

Lately I’ve noticed a lot more people driving Ferrari’s around my area. That’s a lot of horsepower. It’s not my kind of horsepower, though. No. My kind of horsepower actually involves horses. Yessiree,….horse power. You all know about my love of Clydesdales. You’ve read about my love of the Cowboy Channel. My Montana roots run deep. Considering my parents are from Jersey City, it’s a miracle I’m not a city gal. Yes. I can appreciate the city. Any city. But, my heart yearns for the mountains of my birthplace. I haven’t had a Montana layover in a month of Sundays. Thankfully, I have been flying out West a lot recently. When I’m not flying, you can bet I have the Cowboy Channel on. What was once a channel for background noise, has become an addiction. Some of you may say, “You’re Crazy!”. I say, “Cowboy Up!”

The Cowboy Channel has been televising 100 rodeos in 100 days. Who knew there were that many rodeos out there? I knew about the Calgary Stampede Rodeo and the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. I knew there were a few rodeos in Montana and a few more in Wyoming. But, that’s a lot shy of 100. I’ve come to appreciate the Ellensburg Rodeo in Washington. I’ve discovered the Pendleton Round-Up is now my new all-time favorite rodeo. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. I’ve always loved a Pendleton blanket. My Mom introduced me to Pendleton clothing when I was a young girl. Pendleton was quality clothing. Turns out the Pendleton Round-Up is quality rodeoing. Who knew? Well, guess I know now! Cowboy up!

Yes, watching the cowboys ride a bucking horse or bucking bull is quite impressive. Watching cowgirls maneuver their horses around the barrels is mesmerizing. However, it is the rodeo American pride that has really captured my heart. Each rodeo starts with a prayer that praises God, Country and the American spirit. Families stand together. They bow their heads. Cowboy hats cover their hearts. The tributes to the military and freedom are spectacular. The rodeo announcers are full of praise and positivity for each cowboy and cowgirl. They always remind the audience the competitors may not remember how well they did, but, they will always remember how the people made them feel. And the people always make the cowboys and cowgirls feel loved. The cowboys and cowgirls root for one another. It’s sportsmanship at its finest. It’s very refreshing. All the while, the rodeo barrel man keeps everyone entertained. It’s great, clean entertainment. Well, minus the rodeo dirt and the bull flinging nose snot. The peppy rodeo music is a fantastic bonus. Yessiree. I catch myself singing along with the rodeo crowd. Another bonus….the sound of the rodeo announcer’s and rodeo barrel man’s voices are so soothing they lull me to sleep when bedtime comes.

A few weeks ago I flew into Rapid City. That’s South Dakota for those of you who may not know. It’s also where you fly into if you want to visit Mount Rushmore. Rapid City may not sound like a desirable destination. But, don’t tell Skytresses and Skyters this. For us…It’s a coveted destination. Yessiree. I couldn’t hold the 30- hour layover. I could only hold the 13- hour layover. Even with the shorter layover, I thought about renting a car to go see Mount Rushmore. I hadn’t been to Mount Rushmore in years. The cheapest car rental was $200 for the day. One car rental agency was asking $500. Edags! My crew and I deadheaded into Rapid City on a regional jet. I hadn’t been on a regional jet in years. (Note to self…..next time, check my crew bags plane side. The regional planes may be bigger than I remember them. But, the aisle are still as narrow). The flight from Minneapolis was just over an hour. I looked out the window the whole time. The closer we got to Rapid City, the more excited I became. It was fascinating flying in. The rolling hills were brown from lack of rain. In the middle of nowhere there would be live stock dotting the land. I was trying to figure it all out as I looked at the landscape outside my window. Sadly, we landed way before I was ready. Heck, I didn’t have time to take a picture out my window for you all. I’ll be more prepared next time.

When the crew settled into our seats in the crew van we were all chatting about our flight into Rapid City. No one slept on the flight. We all were looking out our respective windows taking in the sights of South Dakota. The Captain jokingly asked if anyone was going to go to a rodeo on our layover. I know I impressed him when I told him the Rapid City Rodeo was the previous week. Okay, maybe I scared him with this information. I’m sure he never flew with a Skytress that watched the Cowboy Channel. The Captain impressed me when he started talking about mutton bustin races. The first officer laughed. He was familiar with mutton bustin. My Skyter In-Charge and my Skytress crew member had no idea what mutton bustin was. If you don’t know what mutton bustin is, let me explain. Mutton bustin is where little children lay on sheep and hold on to see how far they can ride them. It’s hysterical. Incredibly, I’ve learned the best technique is to lay on the sheep backwards. One can get a better hold on them and ride further. This is just a little observation on my part if you ever find yourself in a mutton bustin contest. You’re welcome!

Since we arrived in Rapid City at dinner time, we went to dinner. Here’s an interesting tidbit for you all. My airline is known around the industry as the airline that loves to eat. We pride ourselves on this fact. The one Skytress on our crew that hadn’t been to Mount Rushmore decided she would like to go there when there was more time to see it. She definitely wanted to go to dinner though. This doesn’t come as a shock to you all now, does it? We decided to go the The Firehouse Brewing Company for dinner. My brother Brian would have loved it. It was all things firehouse related. I don’t know if an actual fireman cooked my dinner,….but, it was delicious. Our Skyter In-Charge had the best stories. I didn’t think anyone could top them. I was wrong. More on that in a moment. After dinner we walked around the city. There are statues of Presidents all around town. It was quirky and we loved it. The Skytress on our crew wanted to check out Graffiti Alley. It’s just that. An alley with lots of graffiti. It was quirky, too. Rapid City had a cute downtown area. The shops were closed by the time we finished our dinner. That just means I will have more to check out next time I’m in Rapid City…..Along with….the Badlands National Park, the Chapel in the Hills, and the Crazy Horse Memorial. Surprisingly, I’ve already seen Storybook Island. It’s a children’s park where storybook characters come to life. My family went there on a trip back to Montana. To this day, I still think about the woman who lived in a shoe. There was a giant shoe you could go in….just like in the nursery rhyme. It was fabulous! Or should I say, heel-arious?!

Now, I mentioned my Skyter-In Charge told us the best stories. I also wrote there was one person that topped his stories. Yessiree. It was none other than our van driver. On our way back to the hotel we could hear a train whistle. Although, we knew it was nearby, we couldn’t see it. Nonetheless, it made us all nostalgic. I remember riding trains when I was a young girl in Montana. I mention hearing the train when we arrived back to the hotel. The van driver said when he was a young boy he really didn’t think much about the trains. Nope. He was captivated by the helicopters that came to town. The van driver explained people could take rides in the helicopter. He rode in the helicopter when he was 14 years old. He’s been fascinated by flying ever since that day. About the same time the helicopter came to town, so did the carnival. The van driver recalled how he was enchanted by the carnival, too. He was so enamored by the carnival that at age 14 he got a job working there. When the carnival left to go to other towns, he left with them. He spent several months traveling with the carnival out west. He explained he was young and could climb up all the rides to help put them together. Then later he’d climb back up and help take them apart. He told me about the carnival people. He said they were unique to the general population. To him, they were the nicest people he had ever encountered. He told me the carnival people wanted him to stay with them and continue to travel around the country. They were going to pay for his education. The van driver said it was a tempting offer. But, he wanted to come home and finish school. I had a hundred questions I wanted to ask the van driver. I wanted to know what life was like for him as a young man that would make joining the carnival at 14 possible. Did his family need the money? Did he even have a family? As I was formulating all my questions, the driver told me his carnival name was Bee. He said he got the moniker when one day he took a sip of his soda and he swallowed a bee. No sooner did he tell me this story when a woman asked if he could drive her back to the airport. Sadly, there would be no answers to my plethora of questions I had. We said our goodbyes. He left for the airport. I went upstairs to my room and made a commitment to myself that I would be back for another layover….and as Paul Harvey would say,…”the rest of the story”.

The next day we left Rapid City to head back to Atlanta. Myself and my fellow Skytress skedaddled out of our jumpseats as soon as it was safe. The back of the airplane was empty. We wanted to get one more look at Rapid City and the surrounding landscape as we headed back to Atlanta. Sadly, the visibility that morning was poor. Thick clouds impeded our view of the ground. We were both disappointed.

I’m not sure when I will be back to Rapid City. I hope it’s sooner than later. I can’t get enough of America’s northwest. Fortunately, I’ve had layovers in Denver and Salt Lake City. The majestic mountains always leave me in awe. Our hotel in Salt Lake City was incredible. Who knew they had such swanky hotels in SLC? “Not I”, said I. My crew and I sat outside and ate dinner. See, there is the food-loving part of our airline again! The mountain air was refreshing. Well, if you overlooked the smog from the forest fires. We stayed at the airport hotel in Denver. Yessiree. The one attached to the airport. It was impressive, too. I stood outside on the patio deck while my chai tea latte was being prepared inside the cafe. It was gorgeous outside. Next time, I will give myself more time to linger. Until then, I will keep the Cowboy Channel on to feed my Montana soul. Yessiree. The horse power is impressive. The western pride is unwavering. The mutton bustin is gut-bustin hilarious. However, it’s seeing the cowboys and cowgirls anchored upon their horses that expands my western soul the most. It’s inexplicable for me. Yessiree. Some may say I’m crazy. I, on the other hand say, “Cowboy up”.