In 1996 I was performing implementations of in-house medical repair operations at the (then named) Columbia Hospital system. I had the west coast, and one was in Riverton, Wyoming - a lovely place. I had finished my work there, and was scheduled to fly to California for a meeting the next day.

I got to the airport way early, and the staff was excited. They were hoping I'd be there early, because there was a spring storm front moving in. The Hertz rep had told them that I was due back, and got on the intercom to let them know I was there.

My later, direct flight to Denver was already cancelled, but they had room for me on a flight that stopped first in Worland, Wyoming. If I'd had a map, I'd have stayed an extra day. Worland was north, Denver was southeast.

So we take off, in the ubiquitous Dash-10, heading north. At the back of the plane only a simple partition separated the cargo from the passengers. I was annoyed, because there clearly styrofoam coolers rubbing together, and the squeaking was annoying. I was distracted by watching ice form on the wings as we flew into the storm, though.

We make it to Worland, and we all had to disembark so they could refuel. We're in the one-room terminal, and the baggage gets unloaded. There aren't any styfrofoam coolers. There are boxes and boxes of baby chicks.

Turns out that it's completely uneconomical to keep chickens over a winter in Worland. They get new ones every year, and I got to ride in with them. If you ever wondered what a thousand cheeping baby chicks sound like, just rub a couple styrofoam coolers together. For an hour.

Edit: Worland, Wyoming

Hotel was always Silver Cloud, I think. Ivar's is still there, but their chowder bar is closed - it did massive business.

The old ferry landing. Damn, those condos must have doubled in value, while Ivar's, the tavern/ bodega, and little boutique hotel lost all their business.