Montana

There is a Montana in Bulgaria, about an hour from Sofia.  The Montana where my brother-in-law got married, however, is about 6,000 miles across the Atlantic. 

When I arrived back in Iowa late on Tuesday, October 16, I was expecting to have a day at home before heading onward to the wedding in Lewistown, Montana.  Unfortunately, my daughter was sick and a trip to the doctor on Wednesday confirmed that she should not make Montana trip. I ended up changing my flight from Thursday to Friday and lined up family to stay with her at home while I caught up to my wife and her family in Big Sky Country.

I arrived in Billings early Friday afternoon and we drove straight to Lewistown.  I was a groomsman, and at the rehearsal dinner we received cowboy hats as a gift, which is hard to top.  The wedding and reception were on Saturday, and a good time was had by all.  This was the last of my wife’s siblings to be married, so a great deal of preparation went into the groomsmen’s kidnapping of the bride at the reception, and I think we executed it well.  Lewistown is a charming little town and we enjoyed poking around town and the surrounding area.  We enjoyed some relaxed family time on Sunday, and after breakfast on Monday headed back to Billings for a late return to Iowa. 

Tuesday was spent packing and preparing for my return to Bulgaria with my wife and much-healthier daughter.  On Wednesday the 24th I made my third visit to the Eastern Iowa Airport in a week to begin the journey.  Things went well, or as well as they can go on a 17-hour transatlantic trip with a two year old.  We flew American from Cedar Rapids to Chicago and British Airways onward, connecting through Heathrow.  My daughter did well on the overnight flight to London, and slept for three hours or so on my lap.  Unfortunately, I did not sleep.  Our flight was a bit late arriving into Heathrow, and we would have missed our connection if not for a rather fortunate 25 minute delay.  We had an extra seat on the flight to Sofia, so we were able to spread out a bit and after a full English breakfast everyone slept a bit more.

It was nice to get back to Sofia.  The weather was still warm and sunny.  It was nice to be reunited with my family, and to be done with travel for a bit.