Montana Trip 2009: Day 1

This is a journal that I kept while I was traveling. It's obviously being posted several days (weeks?) after the fact, but I wanted to make sure that I included it on my blog.

Bonnie and I rode to Helena in one of those tiny little regional jets. I love those things, because you can gate check your bag. I hate the process of heaving heavy roller bags over my head into the overhead bins. My spaghetti noodle arms always tremble with the effort and I’ve come perilously close to decapitating innocent bystanders (bysitters?) in the aisle seat.

The ride was interesting, in part because of the people on the plane. There were young fellows with receding hairlines and cowboy hats (which explains the receding hairlines) and cowboy boots. They had a good chuckle when the flight attendant said that we were going to “HeLAINA”. The woman riding directly in front of Bonnie and I was traveling alone with three children. The children were beautiful…redheads with plump cheeks and little ski jump noses sprinkled with freckles. The woman herself had a long red braid and a very weathered face. Her skin was tan and creased with faint lines, like she was outdoors a lot in all types of weather. She looked very capable and tough, and I could easily picture her snapping open baling twine on flakes of hay or driving some kind of heavy machinery. Most likely this was all fantasy on my part…she probably lived in a nice house in downtown Helena and did heavy lifting only when it was time for a weekly grocery trip. But I secretly hope she DID live on a ranch…she fit my image of “Western woman” perfectly. She was beautiful in a rugged, outdoorsy way that had nothing to do with J. Crew or LL Bean catalogs and a lot to do with life.

Our plane touched down in the middle of a field. I guess that’s usually the case, right? But there was nothing around except little houses and waving grass. I didn’t realize that Helena was so small…it’s only about 50,000 people and that’s a generous estimate that includes surroundings. Helena proper is about 30,000 people. I think that may be smaller than my hometown. Despite its’ small size, the city is immediately charming and warm. I can’t wait to explore it further.