CONNOISSEUR OF AIRPORT SEATING, PART II.

Lake County, Montana. July 31-August 9, 2005.

Arrived in Missoula around midday with a bus leaving only 1 hour in the future. I walked out of the airport with my crap and a guy stopped three minutes later to ask if I needed a ride. Easiest trip into a strange town ever. Ate McDonald's and lent my phone to a guy with a broken-down car on his way to Houston. He wanted to buy a cheap car, drive to Houston, sell it, and then get back to Spokane. Seemed like a good idea. Quashed by the sig-o on the phone. I could hear her across the restaurant... "That's a terrible idea!". He ended up waiting for a bus. I walked out to catch mine and noticed the Missoula "M" next to the McDonald's arches. Juxtaposition. I arrived at the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station and was struck dumb. I thought I was going to be tenting out. It's awesome and it costs $12 per day. They serve food here, too?! Check the view. These boats are free to use! What?! There was a sailboat and I swam and they had Beef Stroganoff for supper. Excellent. I've never seen water this clear. It's so nice here that I'm having a hard time getting excited about leaving to tour the watershed. That's why I'm here, to learn about the area and begin developing a computer model that predicts water quality in a watershed. It's interesting to me, but I've also enjoyed analyzing the economic trade-offs of driving vs. biking. Excitement! Bison! I went to the National Bison Range and toured around. I saw a badger, Pronghorn Antelope, and then, right there by the road, Bison. Hundreds of them. It was 95 degrees and sunny. This male just sat there panting and grunting. Can't blame him. This whole valley was flooded millions of years ago by Glacial Lake Missoula. Read about it, it seems like it would be a cataclysm of unimaginable proportions. I had a great day and I wished that there were other people there to talk about it with. This sculpture is constructed completely of used automobile parts and stands on the grounds of Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, MT. After seeing the Bison Range I was really drawn to it. It makes a statement about the usurped culture of the Salish people, their close relationship with the massive Bison herds that roamed this area, and the changes to an automobile culture that have happened in this great place over the course of 100 years. Plus it's recycled, which I like. Glacier National Park is incredible. I camped at Fish Creek Campground with my professor and his two young sons. I impressed the boys with my goat impersonation and taught them how to make the sound of a buffalo in 95 degree heat. My professor was less impressed by these skills and warned me that the boys' mother would be upset with me if they remembered these skills upon returning home. So sad. Kids are supposed to make weird noises and act like wild things...didn't he read that book? Swimming in the lake, walking to Avalanche Lake and viewing three hundred-foot waterfalls and huge mountains all around. The boys threw rocks in the glass-still lake and ruined other hiker's photo opportunities. The mirror-like lake reflected the surrounding mountains and the ripples erased the effect. Ha! Kids. Beware the razor-sharp talons of the Ptarmigan! I walked through the alpine meadows at Logan Pass in Glacier Park and saw ground squirrels, wildflowers, and this extremely brave (or jaded) ptarmigan. I also saw cyclists climbing up and over the pass at 10,000 ft. I was duly impressed. You should go, and go soon, because the glaciers that lend the park it's name are quickly disappearing. So then my trip was nearly over and I had to get back to Missoula and the airport for my flight in the early afternoon of the next day. Return rental car in Polson, ride Greyhound to Missoula after waiting for 6 hours in the public library. I figured that I would just get a tent site at the KOA in Missoula, which is part-way between the bus station and the airport. I walked to the campground and found out that tent sites were almost $25/night. That's too much to pay for a patch of grass and a picnic table. I kept walking, looking for a secluded spot in a field that I could crash in. The moon was out, a bird was singing on the power line near the highway, the temperature was just right, and I was walking toward the airport with a rolling duffle and a very heavy backpack looking for a grassy spot to sleep in until morning. I emptied my water bottle while wlaking and started to get dry-mouthed. Perhaps one of these roadside businesses has a spigot on the side of the building with which to water their flowers? Refill options? I came within sight of the storage place and thought "this might solve both problems. I could sleep out of sight behind the storage buildings and there might be a water tap somewhere. I got closer and saw that it was called "Vigilante Storage", the grounds were surrounded by 8-foot chainlink and topped by barbed wire, and there was a German Shepard pacing the grounds. Maybe this was the wrong place to get free lodging. Just then the dog saw me across the highway and started barking and snarling. He was suitably scary. Walking, walking. Lights out at the airport. I was sitting in one of the airport chairs and reading when all of the lights went out. It was about 2 am and my flight wan't until the next day, but I figured that sleeping in an airport had worked once and it would work again, dammit! This was just my cue to get to bed. I unpacked my sleeping bag and ground pad, moved some chairs around to obstruct the view of my sleeping area and got to bed. I slept for three and a half hours before I heard the TSA security guards talking about "the guy in the sleeping bag". I got up and repacked and moved the chairs around again. Then I took all of my stuff to the men's room and shaved and got ready for a long day... arrival scheduled in Boston for 11:30pm that night. 24+ hours in airports. Neat-o. I watched the sun rise over these mountains outside the Missoula airport and spoke with the head of security who asked me about my situation. Was I just a bum or was I a bum with a ticket was his central question, but eventually he was telling me about housing alternatives in the Missoula area and some of the things that he liked to do in town. More of my reconnaisance mission was getting accomplished now than at any other time. Kate and I have thought about moving West after we finish school. This trip was supposed to allow me to gather info about western Montana. Mission: Accomplished. Hot in the summer, cold in the winter. Parks. Large ungulates. Mountains. Rivers. Lakes. Got it all.