Claire Nichols

Big Sky and Seattle

            “Last call for the flight to Charlotte.”

It was finally time to leave Roanoke. My family and I were going to Montana and Seattle. During this time, I was still recovering from an injury in my knee, so I was on crutches. We had one flight to get to Charlotte, and then another flight from Charlotte to Seattle. We had been waiting for our flight to leave for what felt like forever. I was so impatient to travel to new places, but also sad because I wasn’t going to be able to do much. We gathered up all of our many belongings to board the plane. Although it was a short flight, I managed to fall asleep. I woke up to my mom shaking my shoulder to get me up.

We had to wait in the airport for a few hours before our next flight boarded. I remember going to a small restaurant in the airport and eating there to waste time before our flight. After we had finished eating we went to our terminal to wait for our plane. I boarded the last flight for the day, and watched movies on my dad’s iPad until we landed. By the time we got to Seattle, I was exhausted. It was very late and the night was lit by the city’s lights. We went straight to our rental car and on to our hotel. I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open. Once we arrived in our small hotel, I fell immediately asleep.

The next morning I woke up and got dressed so that we could go tour the city. We left early to go shopping and walk around. I remember feeling sorry for myself because I was on crutches and having to walk in the city, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I recall one of the first places that we went to was the Patagonia store, and then we went to the signature Seattle Starbucks. The Starbucks was hot and crowded, and you couldn’t go anywhere in the store without bumping into someone. After getting drinks from Starbucks, we went to the Ferris wheel. On the top of the Ferris wheel our cart stopped and we got a very pretty view of the harbor and the mountains behind it. Then our cart came around the other side and we got an amazing view of the towering skyscrapers. I remember seeing the Space Needle to the left of the Ferris wheel. After going around a few times, they stopped at our cart and we exited and continued on our tour.

We went to a Red Robin, and had to wait for a table to eat outside. The waiter called our number to retrieve our table, and led us outside. We sat outside and ate our food while watching the sun set with stunning pinks and oranges over the dock, mountains, and harbor. Our hunger had been replenished, and we were onto the next stop. We were going to go to Pike Place, a cultured fish market on the harbor, but they had just closed. We were still able to walk through the market while the shops were closing. We then walked back to where we parked to go back to the hotel. I specifically remember having to walk up a big hill and hating being so limited, and I was really wishing that I didn’t have to be on crutches. Although the journey from Pikes Place to the rental car was miserable, my family made it easier by stopping for me to catch my breath multiple times.

The following morning we boarded a flight to Bozeman, and from Bozeman we drove to Big Sky. Throughout the whole flight the Rocky Mountains were visible with a fresh coat of white fluffy snow. We had finally arrived at the Bozeman Airport. The airport was made of wood like a wood cabin. It had giant glass doors in our terminal that made the mountains show through with their dark green trees. We drove from the airport on the only road that goes to Big Sky. It is a small narrow road with trees and mountains covered in snow on either side.

After my family and I arrived in Big Sky we realized how small the town really is. The whole town was just mountains, trees, and snow. We finally arrived upon our house, which looked like a cabin, but was so much nicer. The driveway looked like it had been carved into the surrounding snow.

Not long after we had arrived at the house, employees from the rental shop came to size and equip us with skis and snowboards. I was very frustrated because I had really wanted to go snowboarding since I was little. I went up to my room because I didn’t want to see what I was going to be missing out on.

“Is everything okay?” my mom asked, because she could sense that I was frustrated.

“Yeah, I just want to be snowboarding with you guys,” I told her.

“Well, do you want to go shopping?” she asked trying to cheer me up.

“Sure,” I said.

We got into the car with our heavy jackets, and headed to the small shopping center. My mom and I walked from store to store, and picked up little souvenirs everywhere we went. We went to the grocery store to get food for our week there. We then got home and I tried to help unload the car, but I couldn’t do much. I went back up to my room and watched television. After I came back downstairs, my mom told me that I could go dog sledding. I loved the idea, and she called the business and asked them when they were taking a trip.

“How does noon tomorrow sound?” my mom asked me after she got off the phone.

“Really?” I said excitingly. “That’s going to be so fun!”

The rest of the day seemed to go by slowly due to my anticipation of the next day’s plans. Dog sledding has always been something I’ve wanted to do. It felt like forever, but the next day finally came. I woke up with excitement, and got ready really fast in an attempt to make time pass faster. My attempt failed, but before I knew it, it was time to leave. It was a short ride there, and when we arrived we saw a lot of husky-mutts. The people working there asked us for our information and then we were ready to go.

They taught my dad and I how to strap in our dogs. They also taught us briefly how to drive the sled. The dogs knew that they were going to go on a sled ride as soon as they got the sleds out, so they stared barking and jumping up and down. My dad had put all the dogs on our sled and they were ready to go, and the guy helped us into the sled. We were about to go. The guy driving our sled yelled at the dogs, and they took off. At first the sled was going very slow, but then the snow caved and we started going faster. The sled went through the trees, and came to a clearing, and the view was beautiful. After about thirty minutes of just riding in the sled the ride was over.

On the ride home I noticed how much fun I had had without snowboarding. I thought that the trip was going to be ruined because I was on crutches and couldn’t snowboard, but it wasn’t ruined at all. Dog sledding made the whole trip better than it was before. When I got home I told my mom and sister how much fun it was, and they wished they had come with me instead of snowboarding. It made me realize how much fun I could have regardless of the fact that I was limited on crutches. When things aren’t going the way you want them to, it’s easy to focus on the negative and pity yourself. Through my experiences on this trip, however, I learned first hand that changes in plans and limitations can often lead to even better experiences. I now more often find myself trying to look for the best in any situation.