BOSTON

July 09, 2017

The Original Plan: Saturday Morning, Leave my grandparent's house in Marion and head to the airport

Check in the bike, preferably withou a hiccup

Get through security, find the gate, board the plane

Arrive to Missoula at 4:30

It was a solid plan. We left my grandparents. We made it to the airport. I was super proud of myself for being self-sufficient and going in looking like the hulk.

I started checking in at the kiosk. One of the attendants came over and ask, "Is that a bike? You're going to need to go over to the back counter for additional services." Ok, I can do that.

I will preface this with I don't wait well... So 25+ minutes being stuck behind a family of 8 people with 9 bags, all over weight by a pound where they think their bags fly free to Ethiopia, passport names not matching tickets, a tantruming child and by the way English is not the first or proficient language... I had enough time, but if I have to wait, I want to do so on the other side of the security check point. With 15 people in line (in addition to the already 8 at the counter with the one teller) a second teller gets sent over. It's my turn. And they can't figure out how to add that I have a bike. And my bike is 4 pounds over. I don't believe it, but what can I do at that point?! The box is taped up and I'm not going to open it.... Oh well. We now need a manager to override the system. My hope was no hiccups... it's nice to have hopes. They print my boarding pass and I'm on my way.

I get through security, no issues. I get down to the gate, and there's a whole zoo full of butterflies in my stomach. At this point I've been tightroping the line of I'm excited, I'm nervous and I'm coming to grips with also being a little scared. It's not a great feeling and I don't really remember the last time I was scared as an adult-- it doesn't happen often. Nervous and worried, I'm quite an expert with those feelings and can manage them just fine. (I've since decided it was a good little wave of being scared, but I'm glad I shook it off. God didn't us to have a spirit of fear-- I know I'm in good hands.)

Here's where we take a deviation from the original plan...

My boarding pass doesn't have my seat assignment on it, just ****. I head over to tell the check-in counter and am told they'll get back to me. Then there's the PA announcement to the gate, "Folks, we're overbooked on this flight. If anyone wants to volunteer their seat you'll receive a $350 credit voucher good for one year." I've never had the flexibility in my travel plans to take advantage of this. So I go up to investigate. "We can get you to Missoula tomorrow at noon." Ok, but I live 2 hours away, I'm not going home to come back for a 0600 flight tomorrow. "We can put you up in a hotel, that won't be a problem." Alright, I'll do it. Sure enough, we get to the end of boarding and the plane is full. A new itinerary, hotel voucher, 2 meal vouchers are printed for me and I'm off to enjoy the day in Boston. Not a bad gig. It makes up for the extra $100 I paid for my bike being too heavy.

The friends and family I have that live in Boston were out of town, but they've left me with some great suggestions for things to do. I hopped on the T and found my way through Fanieuhl Hall, Quincy Market, strolled through the harbor, down the North End to see a huge line at Mike's and waited out a passing downpour. Over to Boston Commons, with a sighting of the Pizza Festival, kids playing in the fountains, and a huge market where I really wanted to get a bag of cherries for $2, but it would have been my 3rd full bags, on my own, this week. I was walking through the Boston Gardens when the rain started to come back and the radar didn't look promising. Back to the hotel. Not a bad extra day!