I got settled in the room. Unbelievably my luggage was in one piece- everything- even tough it was packed in tight. Only one bottle of shampoo leaked - just a little. Oh, I forgot to tell about landing in Bozeman. I wasn't at a window seat, but when we got close to Bozeman I looked out. WOW! The mountains were beautiful- I almost uttered this aloud, it was so neat. As I walked up the ramp to go claim my luggage I actually stopped and looked out the airport window at the mountains - they were gorgeous! Apparently the mountains - the Bridger mountains, named after Jim Bridger, are to the north of Bozeman. Bozeman sits in a valley. The campus is not very hilly at all - less hills than in our neighborhood at home.
Next challenge was to explore. I put on my running shoes and my trusty Garmin so that I would know how far I had walked, and I set out. I did look at a map first, and I took it with me because my memory is short! The neighborhood around MSU is awesome! It reminds me of Grove City, but there are more houses and there is much more town to walk to. It's the kind of place that you could let your children ride to town, pick up those mushrooms you forgot at the store, and ride home again. Then the children have had their exercise and you have your mushrooms - too cool! Sidewalks are everywhere- and the motorists YIELD to pedestrians. Really - I couldn't believe it. At least 5 times while I walked to town I stopped at a corner to wait on a car to cross the intersection. But the car slowed down, stopped, and waited for me to cross - unbelievable!!
The town is really cute, and is about a mile or less from my dorm. I counted three bookstores, three pizza places, several cute shops, a pita place, an organic store, and finally a small grocery store at about 1.5 miles. There were other shops and restaurants, but I can't remember them all. I stopped at the organic store because I didn't know if I was going to find a grocery with what I wanted. Bananas - 99 cents a pound! Augh! I hated to pay that, but I did buy four of them. After all, they ARE organic! HA! Also bought some red grapes - 4.99 a pound- what a rip off! And a few apples.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Journey to Bozeman
After strongly encouraging Josh to blog daily while on his sojourn to France, I realized that I must take my own advice if I am to have an accurate picture of my time in Bozeman. My memory is not as good as his, so I'd better start now!
I left Greensboro yesterday at 6:00 AM on a flight to Atlanta. We arrived at 7:00 AM, and my next flight (to Bozeman) didn't leave until 11:10 (and then it was delayed) so I found terminal C and then proceeded to walk up and down the terminal (with my luggage, of course) for the better part of an hour. I wanted to make sure I got my exercise in!
I realized something about the Atlanta airport as I sat there for the next three hours. When they make announcements, they act like they are talking to real people. No, really! You know how usually when they make those announcements it sounds as if they are reading a teleprompter, and no one really listens anyway? These guys actually had personality - and I found myself paying attention. Interesting - like when another flight was delayed, they told the whole story of why it was delayed- they had to change a tire -do some maintenance. Then they said - and you may not know, but when we give you updates on the time for the departure, these are just estimates. We will update you again at 10:30, but this is an estimate.
While in the Atlanta airport I met a famiy who was from Helena, MT. Both the husband and wife teach math at a college in Helena. They had a daughter who looked about 14. They gave me lots of helpful hints about things to do and places to see- even in Yellowstone! I also met a woman who spent about half her time on Pauley's Island (she grew up in Myrtle Beach) and half her time in Ennis, MT. She also gave me lots of tips - knew where to eat everywhere - it was amazing. When we finally got to Bozeman, this woman, Judy, was waiting for her luggage with her husband. She came over and said that if I didn't mind riding with a dog, they would be glad to take me to MSU. Wow! What a blessing - and the dog was cute - a lab/border collie mix ( ?I think) Apparently the dog goes EVERYWHERE with them. The husband (Jim) has driven from SC to Ennis to be able to take the dog. WOW!
I didn't have good directions to Hannon HAll, so when we arrived at MSU we needed to ask directions. We saw a policeman, who, after a conversation with me in which he realized I was clueless, gave us a police escort to the building. I said thanks and good-bye to Jim and Judy, and checked into my room.
The room - well, it is a dorm - what can you expect? Not as nice as Bostwick at WFU, but not as bad as Clemson when Jared went for tennis camp. More like West Georgia U -remember that, Josh? I had hoped the kitchen would have a pan and a spatula to cook my eggs. Nice stove - almost new! But NO kitchen ware. I asked if I could check out a pan. The nice young man said - we have ONE pot, and it is small. Okay - well, they do have an iron, at least!
I left Greensboro yesterday at 6:00 AM on a flight to Atlanta. We arrived at 7:00 AM, and my next flight (to Bozeman) didn't leave until 11:10 (and then it was delayed) so I found terminal C and then proceeded to walk up and down the terminal (with my luggage, of course) for the better part of an hour. I wanted to make sure I got my exercise in!
I realized something about the Atlanta airport as I sat there for the next three hours. When they make announcements, they act like they are talking to real people. No, really! You know how usually when they make those announcements it sounds as if they are reading a teleprompter, and no one really listens anyway? These guys actually had personality - and I found myself paying attention. Interesting - like when another flight was delayed, they told the whole story of why it was delayed- they had to change a tire -do some maintenance. Then they said - and you may not know, but when we give you updates on the time for the departure, these are just estimates. We will update you again at 10:30, but this is an estimate.
While in the Atlanta airport I met a famiy who was from Helena, MT. Both the husband and wife teach math at a college in Helena. They had a daughter who looked about 14. They gave me lots of helpful hints about things to do and places to see- even in Yellowstone! I also met a woman who spent about half her time on Pauley's Island (she grew up in Myrtle Beach) and half her time in Ennis, MT. She also gave me lots of tips - knew where to eat everywhere - it was amazing. When we finally got to Bozeman, this woman, Judy, was waiting for her luggage with her husband. She came over and said that if I didn't mind riding with a dog, they would be glad to take me to MSU. Wow! What a blessing - and the dog was cute - a lab/border collie mix ( ?I think) Apparently the dog goes EVERYWHERE with them. The husband (Jim) has driven from SC to Ennis to be able to take the dog. WOW!
I didn't have good directions to Hannon HAll, so when we arrived at MSU we needed to ask directions. We saw a policeman, who, after a conversation with me in which he realized I was clueless, gave us a police escort to the building. I said thanks and good-bye to Jim and Judy, and checked into my room.
The room - well, it is a dorm - what can you expect? Not as nice as Bostwick at WFU, but not as bad as Clemson when Jared went for tennis camp. More like West Georgia U -remember that, Josh? I had hoped the kitchen would have a pan and a spatula to cook my eggs. Nice stove - almost new! But NO kitchen ware. I asked if I could check out a pan. The nice young man said - we have ONE pot, and it is small. Okay - well, they do have an iron, at least!
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