"Well, I got into a car with a real stranger this morning..." she said... I looked puzzled, and asked.."Why'd you do that?" "Well, he asked me to.." I knew then there was more to her story than met the eyes. She had a certain smile that was ready to burst into a full tooth showing giggle. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were sparkling.
"hehehe, do you want to tell me the whole story?" I asked with general curiosity. "Well, he werent a complete stranger I reckon, in fact he used to court my friend...then right outta the blue, he called me and asked if I would ride with him to Hamilton to get some breakfast.." she giggled. "I didnt reckon I wanted to be rude to him, so I went, but he was a total stranger..." I laughed a little and said in my usual almost sarcastic way..."well sounds to me like someones got a new boyfriend..." She giggled a little and went on to say she didnt want to "court" anyone right now, but you could see the almost schoolgirl excitement in her. She explained she has been widowed for many years, and the whole time has lived in a small cabin in the woods outside of town. She has a dog (but who doesnt in Montana) and loves to read history books about the wild west. I asked her about children, and sadly she had none. We talked for a while, and I wished her well with the ne "beaux" and she just slapped the air and said "oh pooh" with the prettiest smile east of the cascades.I affectionately named her "Missoula Moma". We found the Grant Creek Best Western to be a fairly nice hotel, and since it was well over 100 degrees, we decided the pool would be a welcome respite. I grabbed my trunks, and Suzi dawned her swim garb, and off we went to the indoor pool. No swimming today! The pool was full from corner to corner with what appeared to be two baseball teams of 12 year olds. The noise was unbearable as was the prospect of relaxing in the pool. "Wanna drive into town?" I asked my wife. "yes, that would be good.." she sighed.Driving into Missoula, I had the goal of trying to find an old casino I played poker at some years before. Not remembering the name, we drove for quite a while when we found it. The Lucky Strike casino was both a bowling alley, and small casino with two poker tables, a few nickle machines, and a well weathered crowd inside. I told my wife of how much fun I had here before we were married, playing poker everynight while working as a contractor in nearby Stevensville on a house project. I became close with a few locals at that time ten years ago, and kind of hoped I would see them again as we walked into the dark, smokey casino.Alas, we dropped a few coins into the machines, and left several dollars poorer. I guess I needed to give a few dollars back after the extensive "take" I had made there in the 90's.Driving back toward the hotel, we spotted the great travellers Mecca: Wal-Mart! "Lets go in" I said excitedly to my wife. She nodded gleefully and in we went. It seems as though the Wal-Mart in any town in any city gives you a take on what that community is all about. Missoula Wal-Mart was no exception to the rule. As we entered, the official greeter, a small wrinkled woman with a nervous tick which made her look as if she was chewing something, said "howdy and welcome to Wal-Mart" I smiled and said "well thanks for having us over Wanda!" She started to giggle hard, and then even harder when she realized I wasnt so much a psychic as I was astute enough to read her name badge.As she pulled her name tag up from her blue vest to make sure that was her name, she laughed even harder showing a mostly intact set of teeth with the occaisional gold work. "Oh you..." she said..."you can just call me Wal-Mart Wanda..." She laughed again, and patted me on the back with a slap and a rub as I entered Mecca. I loved her!.........More to follow..........