Excerpt From My Journal

August 1st, 2022

Yesterday, I departed for Idaho from my state of residence, California. For the first leg of the trip, I was to take a 6:00am flight out of Ontario International airport to Seattle Washington. So, I decided to arrive at the airport around 4:00am to ensure I had sufficient time to check-in my luggage and undergo the very unpleasant experience of having my person inspected by the TSA. While awaiting the boarding of my plane, I befriended a retired tank commander turned triathlete who served some 19 years in the U.S army. He was headed for Alaska to participate in what he described would be a very physically challenging competition. After purchasing a few granola bars from one of the airport snack bars, he generously offered me one. Over these, we chatted about various subjects ranging from the intense exercises that comprise his usual training sessions to the causes behind our increasingly polarized domestic politics. After bidding him farewell, I boarded my plane, a Boeing 737 MAX 9. It was a privilege to ride on such an absolutely stellar piece of modern machinery with its inaugural flight occurring only last year. Below are some pictures and videos from that wonderful first leg of the trip : 

I reached Seattle at around 8:30am. The airport was much larger than Ontario International. It boasted numerous emporiums and eateries. After a brief layover, I embarked on the second and shorter leg of my trip. Unfortunately, due partly to a smaller plane and strong winds it was quite turbulent. Be that as it may, we managed to land safely in Boise (and any landing is a good landing!) where I soon discovered the temperature outside was upwards of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. My grandparents picked me up from the airport and we drove about an hour to their ranch in Parma, a small and mostly rural city on the outskirts of Canyon County. 

The sound of cows grazing, birds warbling, and a summer wind blowing through the trees transported me into a very reposeful frame of mind.