Friday September 25, 2020
There was only one thing on tap for the day, Lone Pine State Park. The trails are plentiful and it’s a fifteen minute drive from the motel. The weather guessers were claiming overcast followed by rain in the afternoon.
The gate opened to the park at 8A and in I went. There’s an overlook by the visitors center. The morning light through the clouds made for interesting lighting. This is one of those photos you take and can't really tell if it works or not until you look at it out of the glare. Sometimes you do get lucky.
Standing by a trail map, I did the mental math and chose a series of trails that would loop through the park and back, totaling about five and a half miles. For the most part, the trails were simply rolling hills. All the trails are well maintained and all junctures clearly marked.
The visitor center was open when I worked my way back to the car. I stopped in and had a nice chat with the woman inside. She and her husband are retired and live in their RV. When Covid-19 hit, they were in Arizona, camping in a state park. The park closed, but they were allowed to stay since no one knew where else they could go.
With continued uncertainty, they decided to stay here until the snow starts flying. They’ve been living and working in the area for four months, the longest they’ve been anywhere in years.
Before I left, I asked if the park had any use for two cans of bear spray. She said definitely. What the heck. I couldn’t take them on the plane anyway.
The first splatters of rain didn’t hit until around 2P. By then I had worked my way back to the motel and unloaded everything into the room, checked in for the morning’s flight and printed boarding passes. Nothing says vacation's almost over quite like printing boarding passes.
Lunch was at yet another of the city’s four breweries. In the heart of downtown, you’ll find Kalispell Brewing. They don’t have a kitchen, but the foot truck in the parking lot made an excellent turkey and mozzarella sandwich. The beer, delicious.
I watched the rain, sipped a wide variety of beer and chilled. The music on the PA was 70’s without the disco. Not a bad way to wait out the rain.
With little hope of a sunset, I went out anyway.
Day 12
Saturday September 26, 2020
There’s nothing like a 3A wake-up call. But, flights out of Kalispell aren’t plentiful. I picked up two hours heading east and I did have to change planes somewhere. Best to get it over with.
Between my phone’s alarm and the hotel’s wake-up call service, I was up, packed and pulling out of the hotel’s parking lot by 4A. One thing we take for granted in the south is the abundance of twenty-four hour gas stations. The first one I pulled into was dark, even the pumps.
The car rental company is off site and doesn’t open until 7A. In the back of the airport lot, they have ten spots assigned. You simply drop the car there. In the glove compartment you leave the rental agreement, parking ticket and keys. You also leave the doors unlocked. I did ask and they swear they’ve never had one stolen.
The folks at the Delta check in desk asked the usual questions about my checked bag. They also asked about bear spay. You can’t take that on board for obvious reasons. They’ll gladly accept the unused canisters, which they donate to the Forest Service.
Apparently I was the first person with TSA Precheck of the day and had to wait for them to turn on the metal detector. It was a breeze.
The first leg of the journey was uneventful. I was seated on the right side of the plane, with the western horizon out the window.
The folks on the left side got to see the sunrise as we flew over Wyoming and into Salt lake City. Not a bad shot considering it's on the phone, and shot across the aisle and two sleeping passengers.
The Salt Lake City airport was nice and relatively empty. I was pleasantly surprised to find the electrical outlets built into the rows of seats were all functioning, This seems to be a rarity elsewhere.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, and in the end, there really is no place like home.
Upon returning from the California trip in July, I called my HMO and easily scheduled a Covid-19 test. I did the same when I got home from this trip. The difference in a month was amazing. This time, I had to have an actual doctor authorize the test. In a very roundabout way, she told me the tests were for those showing symptoms. When I told her I work in a small room with six other people, she okayed it. The good news, it was negative.
David 9/30/2020
PS: Honest, this is the last big trip of the year. I hope to squeeze in a couple of longer weekends in North Georgia for the foliage, but otherwise I'm home.
I'm still randomly checking in on the Grand Canyon lodging site in the hopes I can luck out with a cancellation for the Phantom Ranch in April. I would love to hike all the way down again.
Barring anything unexpected, June will hopefully be the Michigan trip that was cancelled this summer.
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