#34

One of the fun things that has happened over the 40+ months that I've been blogging has been the opportunity to actually meet some of these people that I've conversed with or written to. I know that there are many bloggers out there that don't ever want to do that--that want to keep their "anonymity". That are afraid that if they meet another blogger, then perhaps they won't match up to their profile, or that, for some reason, they'll be a disappointment. I'm totally the opposite. What you see online is what you get, for better or worse. I've met up with 33 bloggers over the past 3 years (find them in the sidebar), and not one of them has ever been even close to being a disappointment in any way, shape or form. And hopefully, neither have I!

The common factor so far in meeting them is that I have had to travel somewhere to meet them, depending on the circumstances. I don't count Moose, Kamey or Rachel in that, because they have the Helena connection. Everyone else, though, has been met on the road. Until tonight!

When Dana first mentioned she was headed to Spokane to see family, my first thought was that I-90 is just down the road from Helena, crossing through Butte. I could run down and catch her at McDonald's or something! Short, and hardly enough time, but we could at least meet! She had a better idea. She and her son got into town about 5:00 tonight, and they'll head out to Spokane on Monday morning! That'll give her about 40 hours here! So we started tonight by going to the Brewhouse, where I usually go beer drinking, and introduced her to both the Beltian White, and Dragonsbreath (thanks, Kamey!). Of course, if you're going to be in Montana, you might as well have a steak, so Cam jumped all over that! Dana and I just had one of their specialty burgers.

And we talked and gossiped. About you, and you. And especially YOU! ;-) They also got the nickel tour of Helena in the dark. Cam seemed to really like the mountains. And the lights. As we headed up Montana Ave. (for those of you who know Helena...) we passed the Dairy Queen, and Dana uttered the words "we can still get Thin Mint Blizzards back home..." Fightin' words if I've ever heard any. So I go through the drive-thru, and lo and behold, we can still get Thin Mint Blizzards!! A perfect end to the evening, as I headed back to their motel. We had to get the obligatory picture together, but we were both tired from the beers. You have to figure that one of us would look like a dork--I took one for the team this time...


Tomorrow, we head to the Gates of the Mountains (look it up), and then to the York Bar for more burgers and beers. She's got (or going to have) her travel vlog up on her site. Be sure to check it out! More pictures and stories tomorrow!