Sometimes work is…work. But, if we are lucky…sometimes work is a mini-vacation. Yessiree. Airline people are notorious for saying they are on a paid dream vacation when they fly a trip that has a long layover in a fun city. Fortunately for me, I had two paid dream vacations before my actual vacations. Even better, I got paid by my airline to go home to Montana. Yipeee for me! I’d have gone for free. But, please don’t tell this to anyone in the payroll department.

I specifically bid a long Kalispell layover before my November vacation. Our crews now layover in the charming town of Whitefish, Montana. I had a brief taste of Whitefish when my crew and I drove there on a previous Kalispell layover. Yessiree. We made a side trip to Whitefish so I could get my Christmas ornaments before we drove to Glacier National Park. I vowed then I would drive back to Whitefish on an another layover to explore the downtown area more thoroughly. I’ll admit. It was pure serendipity when I learned our layover hotel was now located in Whitefish. Heck. I didn’t have to rent a car. No siree. I could roll out of my hotel bed and be walking down Central Avenue in a matter of minutes. Barring a reroute, I knew nothing could spoil my plans for a spectacular paid dream vacation. Unfortunately, one Skytress on my crew did her due diligence to try to ruin my plans for a spectacular trip. I couldn’t tell if she was consciously or subconsciously doing it though. However, from our first interaction, I could tell she was not thrilled I didn’t drop my trip to her much junior Skytress friend. They wanted to spend the long layover watching football at a local bar with another Skytress on our crew. She smiled when she told me this. But, she said it with a snarky undertone to make it perfectly clear I had ruined her layover plan. She did consciously tell us how much she loathes domestic flying. Yessiree. Every time I was within earshot she voiced her displeasure with domestic trips. By my rough calculation on day one of our trip, this comment was stated one thousand, six hundred and forty-two times. Give or take a few times. For those of you who don’t fly for a living,….there is nothing worse than a Skytress or Skyter bashings domestic trips now that they are senior enough to fly international trips on a regular basis. On the upside, there is a very good chance we will never see these Skytresses and Skyters ever again on a domestic trip. Hooray for domestic us!

Luckily for me, I had flown with our Skytress In-Charge, Amanda, before. Better yet, Skytress Amanda had no intention of spending her day in Montana watching football in a bar. No siree. She was just as eager to explore Whitefish as I was. Boy, did we explore! We walked into every shop that was open on Central Avenue on a Sunday. One shop we returned to several times. Once for Skytress Amanda to try on some clothes she couldn’t stop thinking about. Once again later to find my wallet I had carelessly placed on a stack of sweaters. There were so many fun and interesting items in the various shops I found myself thoroughly overwhelmed. Which was a good thing. Being overwhelmed helped me from over spending. I’ll admit. I did have a game plan for buying early Christmas gifts on our layover. Sadly, I didn’t implement this plan too well. No siree. I ended up buying more things for me than the people on my Christmas list. Not surprisingly, several shops were completely out of my price range. These shops were definitely catering to the wealthier patrons. The prices of some of the items were so outlandishly high I got a bad case of sticker giggles. One boutique that was closed definitely catered to….well, not the likes of me. The clothing on the mannequins in the window was glam beyond glam. The clothing was more Rodeo Drive than rodeo Montana. The juxtaposition was not lost on Skytress Amanda and me. Yessiree. It completely intrigued us. I promised myself if I got another Kalispell layover in December, I would come back to this shop just to window gawk. Thankfully for me, I was able to fulfill this promise.

My crew on my December Kalispell trip couldn’t have been more wonderful. Everyone was beyond excited to go to Montana. Each one of us was completely aware we were on an airline paid dream vacation. So, we all acted accordingly and made some dreamy layover plans. Skytress Derby had rented a car to drive to Glacier. Our Skytress In-Charge, Brenda, and her friend went snowmobiling after they received the official word there was enough snow to do so. Skytress Rachel and I had plans to go shopping in Whitefish and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere. Lucky for us, Mother Nature provided the perfect amount of snow to add to the Christmas mood. Yessiree. I was giddy beyond words. Everything seemed so magical. Unlike my previous trip, ….I was no longer so overwhelmed by all the incredible items in the various shops that it completely stopped me from over spending. No siree. In fact, I had to continuously remind myself I had very little room in my suitcase to bring things home with me. Sad, I know! Believe me,…if I knew the whimsical Christmas reindeer wall sculpture I saw in the first shop would have fit in my suitcase,….I would have bought it in a heartbeat. Luckily, for me, this florist shop was closed on my last layover. Otherwise, I would have been sufficiently prepared to bring the reindeer home with me. Skytress Rachel and I also went into an amazing art gallery that was closed last time I was in Whitefish. I quickly fell in love with a colorful bear painting as soon as I opened the gallery door. I would have happily brought this painting home with me, too. Only it was too enormous to be properly displayed on any of the walls in my house. Plus, it was a little over $13,000. Besides that, it was perfect. We also walked by the clothing boutique that I vowed to return to on my last layover….you know… to window gawk. The outfits in the window had changed from my previous window gawking. However, each new outfit displayed in the window was still on the cutting edge of fashion. Skytress Rachel and I looked inside the door as we passed. We were stunned by what we saw. There was a red ball gown with a full skirt made out of huge red bows on a mannequin. I was completely gobsmacked. It was creatively amazing! Unbeknownst to us, the shop owner saw us looking inside. She came outside as we were walking away and invited us to come in to the shop to take pictures. Why I declined, I have no idea. I utterly regret this decision now. I researched the shop when I got back to my hotel room. The boutique has replaced the gift shop where I got my Christmas ornaments on my first Kalispell layover. The shop is now called, House of Skye. The owner, Skye Drynan, is from Whitefish. Her family owned the gift shop I bought my ornaments from. Ms. Drynan designs artistic clothing. Some of her celebrity clients are Gwen Steffani, Lady Gaga and Carrie Underwood. Say, what?!?!? I know! You can bet your sweet bippy next time I’m in Whitefish, House of Skye will be the first place I will visit. I vow to walk into the House of Skye and proudly tell Ms. Drynan to, “Show me what you’ve got”. I know I won’t be disappointed. Heck. I encourage you all to do the same.

Skytress Rachel and I eventually went to grab a burger and watch some of the Georgia-Alabama football game. We needed a moment to decompress from our fairy tale day. That’s when we started receiving texts and photos from the rest of our crew. Their photos were phenomenal. Everyone was having a blast in Montana. I couldn’t have been happier or more Montana proud. Yessiree. Everyone was having big adventures in Big Sky country. I couldn’t wait to hear everyone’s stories. I could tell from the photos and texts, they couldn’t wait to tell us all about their adventures, too.

Not surprisingly, on my November Kalispell layover, our international Skytress couldn’t wait for our trip to be over. She yearned to go back to her international flying. I’ll admit. After a lovely layover back home in Montana, I was counting the minutes for our trip to end, too. Yessiree. International Skytress had mentally worn me down. Fortunately, this was not the case on my December trip. No siree. From the moment we met in the lobby to head to the airport, everyone was happily reliving their Montana memories. Even our new pilot crew was excited to share what they did on their layover. The positive energy was palpable. I know I wasn’t the only one planning my next trip back to Montana. My crew had provided me with a new list of adventures to experience on my next layover. I’ll admit. I was sad our trip was coming to an end. I could tell my crew felt the same way I did. Our paid dream vacation trip exceeded all expectations. By my rough calculations we had each created one thousand, six hundred and forty-two personal Montana memories. Give or take a few memories. I’m certain we all would have flown the trip for free based on our exceptional layover experiences. But, please don’t tell anyone in the payroll department. Montana memories are priceless. But, if I ever want to purchase the $13,000 bear painting, I’ll need to get paid for my trip.