Itineraries...

...have come in for this month's trips.

Oddly enough, neither trip involves the airlines I discussed with the travel agents. Not my choice; they work for the Big Company, not me.

Seattle -- on airline "A" -- gives me a 7:00 am departure from LA. That's a 3:30 am wake-up call to make sure I am at the gate for boarding. Not my favorite way to start the day, but it makes it much, much more willing to slurp that hideous airline coffee.

Montana is better. Using airline "D," I leave midmorning and stop at Salt Lake City. Having never been to that airport, I'm hoping the terminal is small; I have a very narrow time window to get to the flight for Kalispell.

I bless this travel agency for keeping a file on me. They reserved window seats for both trips. I don't spend that much time taking pictures out the window, but I'm guessing the final approach to Kalispell may be an exception. If not, I wanna look anyway.

I've been doing this stuff for 21 years now, and you'd think I'd eventually get used to air travel. Never have. It's not that I worry about the flights themselves -- though there was one that was fairly hairy -- but spending time in airports is one small step above being stuck in a hospital emergency room.

In fact, once I get on the plane for that final destination and the wheels go up, I'm a happy, relaxed camper.

Especially when the "final destination" is here....