The Rerouted Skytress

I worked a trip back home to Montana on May 17th. It had been awhile since I had been back in my home state. I was giddy with excitement about my trip. I had a 30- hour Kalispell layover. I had rented a car for my layover and I had a general plan of where I wanted to roam. Fortunately, I had two spectacular crew members that were raring to join me on my adventure. Heck. My adventure quickly became our adventure. We had a wildly spectacular time in the Wild West. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about our trip. Well,….except for me getting Covid. Yessiree. I absolutely would have changed this.

When I got my trip bid results for May, I was ecstatic to see I had two long Kalispell layovers. I had never been to Kalispell. Say, what!? I know it’s shameful to admit….being a Montanan and all. In my defense, Montana is the fourth largest state in America. Thankfully, it only took me a few minutes on Pinterest to get a game plan for my Kalispell layover. I learn by watching several YouTube videos that Glacier National Park visitors would need to purchase a park entrance pass 60 days in advance starting May 27th. Luckily, my layovers were prior to this date. Yeah for me beating the summer rush in Kalispell! After all my research and my Skytress friend Kellie texting me some valuable information, I felt I had a decent plan set for my first Kalispell layover. I decided I would just wing things on my second layover. Oh, and I decided I should start praying to ensure the reroute gods wouldn’t rear their ugly heads. For you all know,….I am The Rerouted Skytress.

Our Montana adventure started off shaky. The hotel clerk informed us we couldn’t use the hotel shuttle to ride to the airport to pick up the rental car. No siree. Apparently, we needed to request the shuttle 24 hours in advance. The clerk fiercely didn’t want to budge on this policy. Egads! But, of course, we got her to budge and she found us a driver. Once we were settled in the rental car, we quickly learned the Armada navigational system had issues. It wanted us to take a right into a muddy field instead of make a left to exit the airport. Skytress Amy quickly put our destination of Whitefish, Montana into her cell phone. In a blink, she had us heading in the right direction. I was eager to visit the quaint western town. Of course, my number one objective was to buy a Christmas ornament. My objective soon became all of our objective. We checked out several shops before we headed off to Crystal Winters. This shop had a little bit of everything. So, I bought a little bit of everything…..besides my Christmas ornament, of course. What can I say? The store had a huge selection of huckleberry item. Here’s a little known fact. I’m a wee bit obsessed with huckleberries. They’re phenomenally delicious!

We all knew rain was in the forecast for later in the day. So, we decided it was best to head to Glacier. Once again, Skytress Amy got us heading in the right direction. Skyter Paul then spotted the game warden. He figured the game warden was heading to Glacier. He was spot on. The three of us had a marvelous time sightseeing on the drive. It’s easy to sightsee when you are relying on the game warden to get you to your final destination. There were multiple quirky sites along the route. We tried to comment on all of them. The whole time though, my heart was pounding from the astounding scenery. The closer we got to Glacier, the more my words failed me. The three of us just kept saying. “Wow! Look at that”. One view was as exquisite as the next. I felt as if we were driving into a fairytale. Everything seemed utterly magical. Yet, it was all very real. The Lake McDonald Lodge and the surrounding log cabins made me feel like I was stepping back in time. I could only fathom the reaction of visitors to Glacier a hundred years ago. However, I believe they would have thanked God for the beauty presented before them just like I was. The three of us walked down to the water and placed our hands in it. It was cold and invigorating. I know Skyter Paul wanted to do his polar plunge. He came prepared to do it. He even got the approval from the park associate. Instead we walked around and took pictures. We ended up going inside the lodge. It was striking. Skytress Amy and I went to the restroom. When we walked back into the main hall there was Skyter Paul playing the piano. The piano was from 1914. The sign on the piano welcomed all to play it. Skyter Paul was entertaining everyone. I couldn’t stop smiling. I stepped away to check out the gift shop. I knew the perfect Christmas ornament was waiting inside for me to purchase. I giggled as I handed the sales clerk my credit card. The visitors inside the lodge were applauding Paul and his piano playing. Yessiree. It was just another magical moment in my magical day.

Most of the roads in the park were closed. The famous road, the Going -to -the Sun Road, will be closed until late June or early July. Snow still covers the road. I’ve learned up to 80 feet of snow can cover the road below. It can take 10 weeks to plow the road in the springtime. Skytress Amy told us about the time she drove the road with her crew on a layover. I tried to image the beauty and the danger of the trip. I was completely fascinated by her story. I vowed to myself that one day I will make this trip. The day we were in Glacier they were forecasting 15 inches of new snow on the mountain tops. I was amazed how quickly the fowl weather moved in. We took this as our sign to move out. Interestingly, I was surprised how sad I felt to leave the park and the God-gifted beauty of the land. But, then again, that’s what my Montana does to people.

We decided we would head to Flathead Lake. Our gate agent had suggested it to us the day before. Skytress Amy looked up the location on her phone. Flathead Lake is south of Kalispell. The SUV navigation system wanted us to head towards Canada. Of course, we followed Navigator Amy’s directions instead. Yessiree. I kept driving south. It humored me how one minute the speed limit was 70. Then in a heartbeat it would drop to 35 miles per hour. Then in another instant it was back to 60 miles per hour. I was marveling at the speed limits and interacting with Skyter Paul and Skytress Amy when out of my periphery I spied another mountain range and below it, Flathead Lake. It was beyond breathtaking. We spotted a sign for a picnic area and we turned off the highway. We were rewarded with a spectacular view of the lake. We were fascinated with the colorful rocks that created the shore. Paul and Amy skipped rocks along the water. I was completely entertained and impressed by their rock skipping skills. We took more pictures as we frolicked on the rocks. Paul and I filled our pockets with colorful rocks. I can’t explain it. I felt compelled to take a piece of Montana back home with me. I’d like to say I chose the rocks. But, I know without a doubt, they chose me.

We decided we would return the rental car and head back to Kalispell for dinner. Unfortunately, we were once again having issues with the hotel clerk and getting transportation back to the hotel from the airport. Skyter Paul secured us a ride with a gentleman picking up his rental car. His name was Emmanuel. Emmanuel means, “God is with us”. As I reflect upon our car ride, I have to smile. God was undeniably with us in the car that afternoon. Our great fortune continued when we headed out to dinner in Kalispell. We went to Brannigan’s Irish Pub. I was tickled to see pasties on the menu. My Mom made these when we were younger. I debated whether to order them. I decided I’d treat myself to them the following week on my layover. Ultimately, we all decided to get the Shephard’s Pie. It was exceptional. It was the perfect meal to cap off the day.

The next morning we received notification that our flight to Minneapolis had been delayed. Our Captain had to go to the emergency room during the night with muscle spasms. We had to wait for another Captain to be flown in to Kalispell. We knew we had very little time to make our deadhead flight to Atlanta once we arrived in Minneapolis. Skytress Amy joked that Paul and I would have to leave our rocks behind in order to make the flight. We encountered some of the nastiest rough air I’ve experienced in a long time on our approach into Minneapolis. At the last minute we had to abort our landing because of wind shear. We went through more rough air on our second attempt. But, the Captain made a perfect landing. While our passengers applauded, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Things always seem to go wrong when you are running late. I couldn’t get my suitcase out of the bin. My suitcase hook was stuck between the bin and the fuselage. Fortunately, Skytress Amy helped me get it unstuck. Then we quickly made our way to the furthest concourse imaginable to catch our flight to Atlanta. When I say this, I mean Skyter Paul ran ahead to make sure the agents knew we were coming. The rest of us walked briskly. Since my bag hook had been messed up in the overhead bin, my bags kept flipping on the hook. I’ll admit. I did question why I packed so many rocks from Flathead Lake. The collection of several new Christmas ornaments and a hefty supply of huckleberry items in my flight bag didn’t help the situation either. Fortunately, the bad weather had closed the ramp area for a brief time. Our flight was running behind schedule. We made it. I sat in my middle seat and I said a prayer of thanks. Then for the next two hours I enjoyed my movies while the passenger next to me coughed, sneezed and blew his nose. I mentioned this to my crew when we got off the plane in Atlanta. I told them I was pretty sure I was going to get this guy’s cold. Skytress Amy tried to make me feel better by telling me the guy probably had bad allergies. This thought made me feel better. …..until Sunday night…. when I started feeling awful, awful, awful.

Sunday night I was making a preliminary itinerary for my second Kalispell layover. I was excited to be going back to Montana. Then I noticed I was starting to feel feverish. I was achy. My head started hurting and I felt a cold coming on. My thoughts immediately turned to my seat mate. I knew I was getting his cold. I questioned my medical diagnosis during the night. A cold didn’t feel this awful. In the morning I decided to take a Covid test. My seat mate hadn’t given me a cold. Nope. He had given me Covid. My test showed a positive Covid result immediately. I was devastated I wouldn’t be going back to Montana. Yessiree. More devastated than finding out I had Covid.

I can’t explain the feeling I have when I am back in Montana. I am proud and honored that I am a native daughter of one of the most exquisite places in America. I am continuously awed by the majesty of the snow-capped mountains. I love the openness and grandeur of the land. The sky is immense, glorious and soulfully impactful. It truly is Big Sky country. Most importantly, my heart is at peace when I’m in Montana. I am fortunate I get to fly back to Montana periodically to experience all of it’s intoxicating wonder. Yes. Montana may be my home state. But, Montana welcomes everyone home. This past trip my Montana welcomed myself and my first-class crew home with open arms. Ultimately, it was too difficult to say goodbye. So we didn’t. We simply said,….until next time, Montana.