Houston & Montana

June 28 – Wed – Jul 1 Sun… Got to the airport early on Wednesday and was finally boarded on a flight to Minneapolis at 7:05 p.m. that evening. (Thank goodness for Dixie’s lifetime Presidents Club membership.) We learned that Northwest Airlines was cancelling many of their flights because a more than normal number of pilots were calling in sick. Apparently they have a problem with their contract. Hotel space was at a premium but we did find a room and finally got there around 12 midnight. The next morning (Thurs) we boarded a flight to Great Falls, MT where Dixie’s mother picked us up. We drove to a county park in the Bear Paw mountains for a family reunion that lasted until Sunday. We then drove to the “farm” in Hogeland, MT for more visiting with Dixie’s family. We’ll be here until Monday July 9th.

June 27 Tue cont’d – After the service, we attended a family reception dinner at Karen’s brother and sister-in-law’s home. Our plans were to travel to Montana on Wednesday, however, we decided to go to the airport Tuesday afternoon because the flights were looking very booked (being former airline employees, we travel standby) on Wednesday. We were unable to board a flight that day so Katherine picked us up and we spent another night with them.
June 22 Fri – June 26 Tue … We put the motorhome in storage and drove the car to a hotel near the Grand Rapids airport. We were able to leave the car there and caught a flight out on Saturday morning to Cleveland. From there we boarded a CO flight to Houston. We rented a car and drove to Mike’s brothers’ home in Pearland, TX where we stayed the evening. Mike’s sister and brother-in-law Sandy and Buster Reeves flew in from California as well. On Sunday we met Katherine and the boys at her sister Barbara’s home in Spring, TX. On Monday evening we attended “visitation” with the family and friends at the funeral home. The funeral service was on Tuesday at the Grace Community Church in Friendswood, TX. Since Jason was a Houston Firefighter, the Houston Fire Department made the arrangements and they did an outstanding, very professional service. Jason’s station no. 26 closed for the service and was attended by more than 300 friends and family. He will be missed.