Montana?

Last Monday I headed to Chicago to provide a 3-day Mock Survey. Great week!! Same client all three days equals only one report. Great hotel and didn't have to move. Home early Thursday afternoon.

It didn't work. I arrived at the facility only to find out another Polaris consultant had arrived about an hour earlier and had started the survey. Since this was supposed to be one consultant, three days, there was obviously a problem. I called the boss to let him know we were both there. He said he would check and call me back. We checked our e-mail and discovered she had been assigned on December 7 and I was assigned the facility on December 17. We decided to just proceed with both of us working the survey until we heard different. We would plan to finish on Wed, which would provide the client 4 days in stead of the contracted 3, and I would get to come home on Wednesday afternoon.

It didn't work. Victor called back around 4 and said he found out what the problem was and that it was 100% his fault. (We already knew that) He asked me how I felt about going to California to do a three day Mock Survey--Wed, Thur and Friday. Okay, I guess. So he said he would contact the client and get back to me. When I hadn't heard by 5 I figured I was headed home on Wednesday afternoon.

It didn't work. He called me back at 6 and said I was going to Montana. .....Montana? I wasn't excited about this adventure. Tuesday morning I started checking flight prices. It was going to be over $1,000 to get a flight from Chicago to Montana and back to Kansas City. Good news. Now I figure I AM headed home on Wednesday afternoon.

It didn't work. He talked with Travel and got the price down to $950 and I was headed to Kalispell, Montana Tuesday afternoon. There was a semi-blizzard going on in Chicago and flights were averaging delays of around 2 hours. I only had 1 1/2 hours to connect in Denver, so figured there was no way I would make the connection and called Marc and Susan to arrange for a bed for Tuesday night. But God must have been part of this plan. My plane left Chicago only 45 minutes late and I made it on my connecting plane with somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes to spare. I landed in Kalispell around 11. It was cold, but clear. The lady at the car rental desk gave me directions to the Hampton Inn. Unfortunately when I arrived, she had sent me to the Holiday Inn Express. I went into the Holiday Inn and asked where the Hampton Inn was. The clerk was very pleasant and understanding and provided me with good directions. I checked in and was in bed by a little after midnight.

Once I was there, it was really okay. Just the thought of all that travel and potential for disaster was a bit daunting when viewed from Chicago at noon. But it worked out well. The facility was nice and the staff great. We had a semi-blizzard there on Wednesday and low cloud cover on Thursday, so I didn't see the mountains, but I've been to Montana. And, since I had to go to Montana on a moments notice in the middle of snow storms, I thought I should get that assignment next summer when they are due for their next visit. So I'm planning to head back there in August and will plan a bit better, with a little down time to actually see the mountains. Kalispell and Columbia Falls (which is where the facility was located) are at the base of Glacier National Park. It should be a great trip.