We were in good shape packing this year. Deb had everything packed by Tuesday night except for our boots which she packed on Wednesday night. We put three of the duffle bags in the pickup on Wednesday night. We had to wait until we were ready to leave for the fourth bag as it had liquids that would have frozen. We did not forget anything this trip. We got up at 2:30, showered and were ready to leave by 3:45. We got to the airport by 4:45. There was no line at the check-in area so we went through there with no delays. Harrisburg has a new terminal complex and it was designed for today’s security. We went to the security checkpoint and there was a looong line. I asked what was causing the delay and they said there was a fire alarm and they have to shut down until it is cleared. After it was cleared we went through without delay. For the first time ever they did not open any of our carry-on baggage. Right after we got through they had another fire alarm.

The plane left Harrisburg on time. The landing in Cincinnati was not very good. They came down hard and it sounded like they blew a tire. There was a lot of noise as we taxied into the gate. We went to our departure gate and Deb made some sandwiches. After we finished eating she noticed that she had left the bota bottle on the other plane. She went to the gate counter and the agent was very helpful. He had them check the plane and they found the bota bottle. They were going to try to find someone to bring it over to us but they did not make it before the plane left. The agent said to check in at Bozeman and they would make arrangements so we could get the bota bottle.

The flight to Salt Lake City was great and we landed on time. The landing was perfect. When they announced the connecting flights they missed Bozeman. At the end of the list they said our crew was going to fly the plane to Bozeman. We only had 30 minutes to get to our connecting flight. Unfortunately we were in the back of the plane so it took a lot of time to get out. In addition they had problems getting the jetway to the plane. By the time we got into the terminal we had less than 15 minutes to get to our plane for Bozeman.

Before we got off the plane I talked to the copilot and said it was good they were going to fly the Bozeman plane as we would never make it on time. We had landed at the far end of concourse C and were departing from the far end of concourse D. Deb said we should try to get a ride. We found an electric cart that was going to concourse D and they took us along. We got to the plane on time and got settled in. Just as we finish getting settled in the copilot came back and said they would not have left without us. One of the passengers behind us got real nasty and said they should have told everyone that instead of only special people. What an a$$.

It was snowing in Salt Lake City and was overcast almost all the way to Bozeman. The clouds broke just as we approached Bozeman. The landing was great and I told the copilot that I thought so. I mentioned the landing in Cincinnati and he said something about what can you expect from an ex-Navy pilot. We went down to pick up our car and found out that Avis is no longer in the terminal. We did not want to drag all of the bags on the shuttle so I took the next shuttle while Deb stayed back and got the checked luggage. She was waiting when I got back with the car. She had talked to the agents about the bota bottle and they had no idea what to do. They gave her a Cincinnati number to call about the bottle. When we tried to call that number we were directed to leave a message but the mailbox was full. We decided to wait until later to try again.

We stopped at Costco in Bozeman and Albertsons in Livingston to get our groceries and a couple bottles of water. We had lunch at Hardees in Livingston. The trip to Gardiner was uneventful. We saw hundreds of deer, 7 bald eagles and 1 golden eagle. We checked into the hotel and they had put us on the second floor rather than the first floor. They did not have a first floor room with a king bed available so they changed us to a first floor room with two queen beds. We got to the room and it did not have a refrigerator or microwave. We went back to the office and they gave us room with a king sized bed and a Jacuzzi. We went to that room and it did not have a refrigerator. We went back to the office and this time they checked the room before assigning it to us. We got a room with a king bed, Jacuzzi, refrigerator and microwave.

After we unpacked Deb again tried to call about the bota bottle. She was unable to leave a message as the mailbox was still full. She tried several different numbers and no one was able to help. One told her to try the Internet but could not tell her where to go. Deb called their online help desk and they did not know anything about the internet. She called their lost and found and they gave her another number for Cincinnati. That number was rerouted to the original number. She called back to the lost and found and got a different agent. That agent sent a message to Cincinnati and they are supposed to get back to us. The agent said they do not post the lost and found items on the computer until the end of the day so she would be unable to help us now. She said if we did not get a call by Friday evening to call back.

It was getting dark but we decided to take a short ride to see whether we could find any pronghorns or other animal. We went down the Old Yellowstone Trail as far as the Beattie Gulch trailhead. We saw more than 60 pronghorns. There were more but they went over a hill before we could count them. We were shocked at the lack of snow on the ground. We usually see more at the end of May than we saw today. The Yellowstone River was very low.

We went back to the room and made chicken pies for supper. It was a long day so we went to bed.