Montana Bound Vacation - Day 1

Woke up early today and immediately jumped on editing my next MASH 4077 Podcast. I had to get this episode done before I leave for vacation as it's due to be released on January 1st and I won't be in town for that. I recorded and edited for the next four hours until it was done and uploaded.

Jes was taking me to the airport (Burbank) but first I wanted to take her out to lunch to thank her. We had lunch at Chili's and then she dropped me off at the airport at 2:30pm. My flight was set for 4:30 so I was there two hours in advance. I had checked in online but I did have a bag to check so I had to stand in line for that. I stood there for about fifteen minutes before someone came to the counter and started checking in bags.

Once my bag was checked I had to get though security. I gave the guard my driver license and he looked at it for a few minutes, he asked if this was me. I said yes and he said.. well you've changed your hair, gained weight and are now wearing glasses. I told him that the picture is 20 years old but that I had my passport if he wanted to see that.. which of course he did. Lucky for me my passport picture looks more like me. I think it's time to update my DL picture.

The rest of security was a piece of cake and in no time I was waiting to board.  This flight was from Burbank to Salt Lake City.. The hour pasted by in no time but we were still not on the plane and we were to take off in a few minutes. They never mentioned a delay but it looked as if our plane hadn't arrived yet. So we waited another ten minutes and finally the plane arrived.

I was worried because my layover in Salt Lake City was only 45 minutes and if I was going to be any later I might miss my connection flight. Once on the plane loading took a while and there seem to be even more issues which delayed us even more.  We were finally off and it seemed like we were in Utah in no time. When we landed I had about 15 minutes before my next flight and lucky for me the gate I needed to be at was extremely close so I got there in a few minutes.

The next flight was from Salt Lake City to Great Falls, Montana and there wasn't a single issue.. got on the plan and this time didn't have anyone next to me. The flight was actually ahead of schedule and we got to Great Falls about 20 minutes early. This flight was so short.. I mean you climb for 30 minutes and then fly at 30,000 feet for 15 minutes and then start descending for the remaining 30 minutes and it's over.

I texted Chris as we were taxiing to the gate and he said he was on his way. By the time I got off the plane and was going down the escalator to the baggage claim area Chris came walking through the front doors with a big smile on his face. I gave him a quick hug as I was getting off the escalator and walked over to the baggage claim area. There I gave him a much bigger hug and then proceeded to rattle off a bunch of our friends names who asked me to give him a hug as well.

It was so great seeing him, it's been 3 months but it's felt like forever. Chris and I talk almost everyday but there is nothing better then being face to face.

It was cold in Montana.. about 15 degrees.

We picked up some Taco Bell and went back to his place and ate, chatted and watched TV for a few hours. I gave him the gifts from Jes and Olivia.. then Chris had to go into work for an hour or so. I watched some TV and finally went to bed around 1:45am and Chris got home about the same time.. said good night and made some plans for tomorrow.

So excited that I'm here and I can't wait to spend the next two weeks with my best bud Chris.