April. April ended up being probably the best friend I ever
had at college. She was from Montana, and she was a lot of good, down to earth
fun. She was funny, she could play the guitar, she was pretty but not in a
showy, high maintenance way, she was a good, hard worker. April and I really
hit it off. I went home with her to Montana a couple of times, once for
Thanksgiving, and another time or two during the summer. Her family lived in a
double wide trailer home on a huge, huge property. The first time I went to her
house, she pointed out her new “neighbor” who lived a couple of miles away from
her house. The new neighbor was from California, and had planted a dead tree
stump in the front yard. And I heard all
about how crazy people from California were. (Except me. I was reassured that I
was not your typical Californian. Ha ha!) Seriously though, what else were they
to think when people come from California and plant dead stumps? The truth is
that the dead stump planter was the different one, most California people I
knew were more like me than that new Montana neighbor.
April’s family was great. Her dad was a disabled veteran,
and a lot of fun. Her mom was great to hang around with and talk to, and we
just had a great time. Her sister Merilee was
seriously the life of the party. She dressed up her dog, Queenie, in
baby clothes, and would make it do dances and all kinds of fun stuff. Every
time Merilee opened her mouth, something funny would come out.
We had fun visiting her home ward, taking a day trip to
Missoula, making pies, and eating elk. Once we were on our way to her house,
and we were not able to go over the pass due to snow. The road was closed for
hours, and it was freezing outside. So we turned around and drove down the mountain
just a bit, and came to a lodge where a local live band was playing. So we hung out there for a while, and stayed
warm and entertained until the road opened again, and we were finally able to
drive on to Corvallis.
Making Pies
(I have zero idea what was going on with my hair. I never colored it! It was just weird).
Merilee and Queenie
We loved playing POUNCE!
(Some call it Nertz or Dutch Blitz).
