(finally) back at home in Kansas

well, we just got into Lawrence this afternoon, after one hell of a reunion weekend in MT . . . it was a great time, but before I go into that, a few things: a) sorry if my tease about posting from Helena made anyone waste too much time checking this page—although there was abundant free wireless internet there (what a century—even in Helena!), we were so busy running around and/or having such a good time that all I did online was check the Times once a day to make sure nothing too important happened out in the world; b) on a related note: we failed to take the number of pictures I'd hoped we would, so what follows below doesn't really tell much of the story, though I'll try to "paint" some "word pictures" . . . some friends we saw there were better with their cameras, so hopefully they'll send some pics to me, which I'll post as soon as possible; and c) after leaving late from Great Falls (for undisclosed reasons), we missed our connecting flight and so were treated (that word may be a bit misleading) to a stay in the Salt Lake City Comfort Inn, with only our carry-on bags (fortunately, the rest of the bags were patiently awaiting us in Kansas City), so the final hours of the trip (or days, should I say?) left Emily & me tired & a bit frazzled . . . which is to say I can't guarantee well thought-out coherence in what follows . . .

that said

we really did have a great time this weekend, though we were a bit unnerved when the aircraft for our connecting flight to MT was so small that the usual boarding ramp was replaced by roll-away stairs, pictured below, with Emily boarding the plane:


once we landed, we took the rental car that my sister Marisa was nice enough to arrange for us down to Helena from Great Falls, a beautiful drive:

here's me at a scenic overlook off the highway between Great Falls & Helena, though the scenery we didn't photograph is even better, if you can believe that . . .

we got in, chatted with Marisa for a few minutes, had a delicious meal at the staggering ox, a great local restaurant, and then met up with about 15 people that I hadn't seen since high school for a tour of the recently renovated school (I could locate only one classroom I was sure I was in, but no lockers--I did, though, find what I'm pretty sure was the edition of the Brothers Karamazov that the librarian recommended (a terrific book))

here's a shot of the outside of the building's new science wing (the classrooms looked cool, but the doors were locked):


and here's this:

here I'm about to light a cigarette in about the same spot I was seen smoking by the vice principal so many years ago (reaction? Saturday school—though this time I got away with it)

one thing unchanged: you just can't leave bikes around high schools for too long:


that evening, we met up with 50 or more of my former class mates—of course, things being what they are, Emily & I only talked to my sister Marisa and her husband Ryan, Emily Greene (who put the reunion together), and a handful of others (one of whom reminded me of just how terrible we were in sophomore year geometry, but the past's the past, I guess . . . anyway, I finally called my friend Chet, as it seemed fitting to avoid my classmates in favor of older kids, just like back in the day . . . as we spent the evening moving from bar to bar in downtown Helena, it got a little easier to chat with some fellow 95'ers, but (especially as Emily & I had to get up at 3:30am to make our flight), we were glad to head out to Marisa & Ryan's awesome mountain abode.

here's a shot of the drive up there (it's like, I don't know 15 or 20 miles up there, mostly on crazy dirt roads . . . but quite scenic)

the next day, there was a barbeque in the afternoon (we slept until noon, so I have to start there), & Marisa & Ryan's new dog scooter was a big hit with all the kids (so many kids!):


their daughter Maraya, by the way, is adorable, and if I can find a picture of her somewhere I'll put it up here . . .

later, Ryan took us (along with Chet) up to folf out at the Scratch Gravel course north of town--I must of played there a hundred times in high school, though you'd never know it watching me last Saturday; but it was great fun--Ryan's a supercool guy, and it was a beautiful day (hot, yes, but not humid like the midwest at least)

so that afternoon, with the help of Emily Greene, we tracked down Mike Campbell, a friend I hadn't seen for at least 2 years; he looked great, & we had great fun seeing him.

here's shot of me w/Mike, on the deck of the house he's renting

then it was on to the big reunion open-bar party at the hotel that, yes, used to be the Black Angus . . . a nice room, free drinks, my friend Anne-Marie was there with her husband, they gave prizes for 1)most kids (5!), 2) longest trip to get back (from Germany), and 3) highest level of education achieved (that's me) . . . and then we (or, I should say, a small number of us) danced:

that's Therese Tucker on the right (unfortunately I forgot to photograph her face—but she's way cool, and was a lot of fun to talk to (she even recognized the design on my Ozomatli shirt!))

we saw a few more friends (Aaron & Mandy, who just built a house way out of town), stayed out until four, but managed to make it to the 10am hike up Mt. Helena (out of the 100+ alumni, six of us made it to the hike . . .) it was fun (a little tougher than I remembered) . . . Therese got the best pic, but hopefully I'll have a copy to share soon; here's a view from 1/2 way up, though:


after that, the reunion was officially over, and we drove all around town with some friends, and way out to see Aaron & Mandy's house, then met all of the family that was anywhere near the area (so like 14 of us were there—the best part was Ryan's explanation of his 2nd beer: "it's necessary")

here's Gina's daughter Eponine with Maraya

and here's my brother Aaron, with his wife Misti and their daughter Kayce (I'm shakey on spelling, but hopefully that's close)

well, after dinner we saw Mike & Chet (& Chet's younger sister, who is now unbelievably 25 . . .) for one last drink, then slept a bit & started trying to come home . . .

so this is the little bag of hygene products Delta gave us

and here I am in the hotel room in Utah . . .

all in all a great—if hectic—visit; glad we went, and glad to be home