Montgomery Bell and Foggy Bottom

In early spring of last year, we headed out with a couple of friends for a weekend at Montgomery Bell State Park, east of Nashville, and canoeing on the Harpeth river. We arrived at Montgomery Bell Saturday morning, secured our campsite, and set up our tents. Then after lunch, we headed out a trail which connects to the back edge of the iron ore pits and ultimately leads to small and picturesque lake. The trail winds though a typical Tennessee hardwood forest of Maple and Oak, and a forest floor covered with a thicket of last falls leaves and this years new growth, including some blooming may apples, and some unidentified purple flowers as well.

After returning to our campsite, we started up a fire and cooked up dinner. We shared a bit in each others food, making a feast of pulled pork sandwiches, campfire grilled corn on the cob, and smoked turkey legs which led to some complications with utensils that were mostly resolved. And what campfire would be complete without s'mores? When the fire had died down, we all turned in to sleep.

In the morning we broke camp after cold breakfasts, and headed for the Foggy Bottom Canoe Rentals. Despite the fact that the sky threatened rain, we opted to rent a couple canoes and do the 13 mile trip. We enjoyed the start of the trip a great deal, and were having a pretty good time periodically stopping at rock bars along the green river's banks to fish and explore. Then the rain came, and at first it didn't seem too bad. We stopped under some trees to eat, but inevitably, it came time to continue on, and it was still raining. Canoeing in the rain is not so bad if you have a poncho or rain coat, but none of us did. But even being soaked to the bone, as I know I eventually was, might even be welcome if it had been summer, but in early spring, I know I at least was a little miserable.

Which is a shame, because it really is a beautiful river, and I was only dimly aware of it, much more focused on paddling in a steady rhythm to get us back as quickly as possible. Still, there is much to be said about the overhanging trees, and many birds, the deep green water, and red clay cut banks which surrounded us. Maybe this year I will give the Harpeth a second chance, a little later in the year.

A really long flight into the future

On Halloween of 2008 we woke and prepared for a day more nerve wracking than any haunted house. We were going to the airport and heading for New Zealand. After moving through the check in lines and security scans, we visited the food court for some breakfast Stromboli, then we were ready to settle in and wait for our flight. As 9:38 am central time rolled around, our plane to Chicago had still not arrived. The flight was delayed. If we had layovers in Chicago that were an hour or shorter, please approach the desk. Well, our layover was an hour and 17 minutes. After others had approached the desk, we ventured to ask about the situation. The woman at the desk gave us vouchers we could use for the next flight to San Francisco from Chicago, if we arrived too late to take the one we were scheduled for. Eventually, we boarded the plane, but landed with only minutes to catch our originally booked flights. Fortunately, there were seats on the next flight to San Francisco, and the lady at the desk in Chicago gave us tickets to that, then we were waiting again. We took the opportunity to have lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern. Then it was on to San Francisco. Fortunately, our actual flight to New Zealand did not leave until 7pm, and while our original layover of 3 hours and 45 minutes had been seriously reduced, we still had enough time to catch our flight, though they were already boarding when we arrived. It's lucky we had the long layovers that we did, because missing that plane would have delayed us an additional day. Due to the delays, we were particularly paranoid about being separated from our luggage, but Yoda at the desk for our New Zealand flight was able to confirm that our luggage had been scanned and put on the plane before we took off, this was Halloween after all.

Finally, we were on the main stretch of flight. The flight over, while a code share with United was actually operated by Air New Zealand, and was very nice. The massive double decker plane was fully equipped with personal screens to watch a selection of movies or television, play games, or listen to music, as well as watch all the info about the plane and its location. We were served snacks, dinner and breakfast, as well as beverages, which included the standards of coke, but also had wine and beer options at no cost. This wasn't first class, just a really long flight. We were fortunate enough also, to have front row seats, so Jake had plenty of leg room. The flight was so long, we had time to watch 3 entire movies, eat, and catch several hours of sleep. We watched Dark Knight, Wall-e, and Wanted. I highly recommend Air New Zealand. Our experience with United was far less impressive. Fortunately, because this was an international flight, the new fees for luggage did not apply.

Finally, we landed, but our ordeal wasn't quite over yet. First we had to collect our baggage, then we had to wait in a line at customs to get our passports stamped. Then, because New Zealand is a smallish island country, dedicated to protecting its unique ecology from the fungus and bacteria of the rest of the world, we had to go through a few more lines. We had to let them inspect our boots, and hand over our tent for inspection, then go through another line to have our luggage x-rayed for prohibited items (wood, dirt, bone, etc) then we had to wait for our tent to be inspected so we could get it back. Meanwhile, Jake acquired the keys to our rental car. Finally our tent was ready, and we were set to go. It was 6 AM. We had spent roughly 27 hours traveling from Nashville to Auckland. But Auckland was 17 hours ahead of Nashville. So, while we left San Francisco at 7 PM of a Friday night, we didn't land until 6 AM Sunday Morning in Auckland, while it was still only 1 PM Saturday back home.

The rest of this story takes place in the future....