Bozeman

Yellowstone National Park in the Winter — Farewell Montana, it has been fun!

Nick Morris

Jan 14, 2014 — 3 min read

The end of my Yellowstone adventure

January 2014

The end of my trip and time to return to Malaysia via the UK.

First stop, Bozeman Montana Airport.

Bozeman Montana Airport

I liked Bozeman Airport, and you can rarely say that about an airport.

The airport was small and well laid out. There were a few shops pre- and post-security. And there were some nice little touches, such as the giant bear sculpture (see below) and the bronze geese (look carefully in the first photo below). The airport had the feel of a large ski lodge/log cabin.

Photo by Author — Bozeman Montana Airport

Photo by Author — I wonder if the bear wears the hat all year or just for the Christmas period — Bozeman Montana Airport

One odd thing I saw was what appeared to be a dinosaur skull at baggage claim.

Photo by Author — a dinosaur skull at baggage claim — Bozeman Montana Airport

KL6593 Bozeman (BZN) to Minneapolis (MSP)

I flew from Bozeman to Minneapolis.

And I had no idea what flight I was on. The logos and napkins said Delta, but the flight number suggested I was flying KLM or was it Air France? It might even be Virgin, as they also codeshare with Delta? Ah, the joy and confusion caused by codeshares!

I always find internal US flights interesting, as they are more like taking a bus than a plane. There is no entertainment (and flights may last 5 or 6 hours) and no food (apart from a bag of pretzels and a small drink). Whereas in the UK or Europe, you often get a free sandwich and a cup of tea or coffee on a flight that is less than 90 minutes.

Minneapolis/St Paul Airport — on my way to the UK

I had a 5-hour layover at Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. An airport I had never been to before. It seemed to be OK. It had free Wi-Fi, lots of shops, and places to eat. Not too bad.

I have also found it had an observation deck.

Photo by Author — Minneapolis/St Paul Airport — it looks cold out there

Which was a great way to kill time while I waited to board my flight.

The above photo doesn't show it, but I could see the runway to watch planes take off and land. Plus, I had the whole deck to myself. The only problem was the lights were on, so there were a lot of reflections on the windows, which hampered viewing. Plus, the Wi-Fi didn’t work.

Minneapolis (MSP) to London Heathrow (LHR)

Wow! Was Delta trying to save money by not heating the cabin at 30,000 feet (ca. 9 km)? I had never been on such a cold flight. I was sitting there with two blankets, and I was still freezing. It was almost as cold as the ski slopes in Montana.

London Heathrow Airport (LHR)

I got to London OK and took a taxi to my UK base.

One advantage of flying on a US airline was that there were no queues at immigration for UK passport holders. Most of the passengers had American passports. One disadvantage was that the baggage carousel was full because many of the passengers were at immigration. It took ages for my bags to arrive, as the baggage handlers could only load new bags onto the belt when there was space on the carousel.