Montana Baby!

When I was little I watched The Hunt For Red October.  Sam Neill's character said "I would like to have seen Montana."  My dad would frequently quote that line, so I always grew up with Montana in the back of my mind.  I never really thought I'd get out West because I could never really afford the trip.  Well, fortunately my sister married an Airman who was stationed in Montana.  And, now, I'm in their house on base at Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, Montana.  It's 2 hrs behind my internal clock, so I'm very tired at 9pm Mountain Time.

This morning we woke up early (6am Eastern Time) and went to the airport.  We had a 3.5 hr flight to Salt Lake City.  We flew over the Rockies and the Great Salt Lake.  The Great Salt Lake should be called The Great Salt Sea.  It's like America's Dead Sea.  I've never seen the Dead Sea, but the Great Salt Lake looks bigger.  Also, we call the Great Lakes 'lakes' when they could pass for 'seas'.  I guess we do it bigger and better in America.  We scoff at the world's 'seas' and call them 'lakes'.  The guy sitting next to me on the flight was reading The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.  I know nothing about it, other than it's not Bible, so I won't comment on it.

We had a 3-hr layover in Salt Lake City with a good view of the mountains.  I love the topography of this area because the earth is pretty much flat and all of a sudden MOUNTAINS!  No real foothills or anything.  I wish I had time to tour Salt Lake City instead of just sitting in the terminal, but oh well.  Maybe later.  I really need to come out to visit the Rocky Mountain territory.  In some way, I've felt a calling to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and I have no idea why.  I think the name is just awesome.  The flight from Salt Lake City to Great Falls was only about 1.5 hrs and we were on a 50-passenger Delta Connection jet.  I sat to a very nice older lady who was born and raised in Great Falls, so she had some cool stories.

I have to say I'm impressed with the town.  It's bigger than I pictured it.  I can't believe I have a week here!  I get to stay on an Air Force Base!  I have loved military aircraft my entire life, and even though jets don't really fly out of Malmstrom, they still have a very nice walk-through museum of aircraft.  The Montana Air Guard has F-15s too.  Number One on my Bucket List is to fly an A-10 Warthog.  It probably won't happen, but it's okay to have on my list.

I love my sister, and I have a really good brother-in-law.  Also my "nephews" Argus and Chance are good dogs.  Argus is a German Shepherd and Chance is an Australian Shepherd.  All we need now are some sheep.  Speaking of sheep, I need to count some.

For the Kingdom,
Stuart