Planes, Trains, Automobiles and an Arm Wrestling Competition!

Looking back, I can't believe how much we did in a small amount of time and even with all the traveling I was pretty relaxed for most of our trip to Montana.

-We took a 14 hour train ride from Seattle to Whitefish, Montana. To some this would be hell, but I LOVED it. I got to knit, stretch out, try to figure out if the married guy talking to the gay co-worker he just "happened" to bump into were actually involved or not, watch the Cascades pass us by and wake up to Montana in the wee morning. Minus the ache in my neck I couldn't have been happier.

-At Heidi's house we couldn't tell if her Mom loved us, hated us or just didn't care because there were so many people in the house that we might've just blended in. They were so great for letting us stay with them, I love anyone who can handle that many hungry people in one weekend. There were burgers, pancakes, sausages, eggs, biscuits and even fresh herbal tea for when my stomach wasn't feeling great after a cheeseburger (not hers by the way).

-At Eureka, the not so great weather we had in Belize seemed to follow us in Montana. Dominic and I didn't mind at all. It wasn't raining so I was happy! Bill almost got killed by some black powder shooters because he was gathering sage (since I didn't want to buy any). On my first run of the trip, I almost tripped over an elk carcass and then ran back to show the boys what I found. We watched people throw knives at targets, I discovered new ways to use a dutch oven, Dominic enjoyed meat on a stick, I found the only yarn store in town that was connected to a brisket shop, thus making all the yarn smell like meat, I caught up on my napping, played a game called Pigs and won, and yes, I entered an Arm Wrestling Competition (and lost). Heidi took the 3rd place trophy prize and all I got was an awesome sleeveless t-shirt. If anything, that is what I'll remember most of this trip. We also went to a rodeo, inhaled so much smoke from the bar that if I get lung cancer I will surely blame Montana, we witnessed a Mud Bog where big cars try to drive through the mud and looked at lots of expensive quilts. Eureka definitely has that small town charm, complete with cowboy hats, no stop lights and people stopping to ask me if I needed a ride because it looked like I was running from something instead of doing something the TV calls "exercise".

-After Mud Bogging and thanking Heidi's folks for their sweet hospitality, Bill, Heidi, Dominic and I were off in the car to our next destination: The Hidden Moose Lodge. We didn't complain one bit when we were upgraded with rooms that had jacuzzi tubs and Aveda products! In fact, I think I took 3 baths in the span of 2 days. This was the relaxing part of the trip and I'm pretty sure Dominic and I could just live there. With home cooked breakfast every morning, fire places, free wine and even a DVD library, we were in heaven. Having friends just a few doors down was pretty nice too. We had a grand meal, got drunk, watched movies, hiked up and up and up and up, took pictures of pretty mountains, skipped rocks on pretty lakes, saw lots of deer, ate "sushi", got lost, shopped at a Trading Post, discovered that almost everything in Glacier National Park is closed in April, hiked some more and got massages in our room!

-Flying back was interesting. I knew we'd have to be on a little plane, but figured since it's only for an hour it shouldn't be too bad. I was wrong. Ugh. This was scarier than any flight I've ever been on, and I've been on my fair share of scary roller coaster flights. Since the winds were strong in Montana and there were about 30 people on the plane, I was already a bit nervous. Then when the flight attendant asked Dominic and I to move to the back because apparently the plane needed to be top heavy, well that just increased my nerves. I'm usually very good when it comes to flying. If there's turbulence I just keep reading my book or knit or whatever until the shakes pass. But this flight immediately shook something fierce. Because we were in the back I think the shakiness only felt worse for us. When I saw that Dominic was scared too, I was practically trembling. The whole plane seemed more like a wonky paper plane that has no clear direction. We were trying to do a crossword puzzle to get through the whole mess, but I couldn't even write and Dominic was clearly not paying attention to the words in front of us. It was so bad that this was the first time I felt like I needed the barf bag. When we landed I was the freaky lady who kissed the ground. I still couldn't speak for a good 10 minutes after we landed. I was just in shock, hands shaking, just wanting to get home, even though where we just left was so pretty and beautiful. Next time we'll take the train back.