TWIN CITY SLICKERS Ralph Tupper
Finally on my way.
I got dressed in the clothes I had laid out the night before, an outfit that was western yet not blatant about it. Actually, most of the stuff I usually wear except for the boots which I slipped on today, and the western hat that I placed on top of the Levi jacket lying on the couch. The hat was something I had only worn on rare occasions, but this week would be different.
My wife had fixed breakfast for me, so I ate and had a cup of coffee with her until it was time to go. As the time drew near, I donned my jacket and hat and kissed her good-bye, as I always do, and walked out into the rain toward the garage. I was thinking about what a bright decision I had made in not getting rain gear.
The first thing I had to do was to take everything I had put into the back of the pickup and place it inside the cab on the passenger side. No sense in getting it soaked yet. I stacked my gear and placed my hat on top of it. I got in and drove the short five minutes to Denny's where I was to meet George.
When I pulled up to park, I looked around and thought I had spotted George's car there already. I got out, but I did not take my hat in with me. Too early, I thought. I actually thought I had not yet earned the right to wear it. If I had been on drives like this before, I would have had no hesitation; the right would have been earned. This is pretty much the same attitude I have about most things.
I walked into the restaurant, but I must have still been sleepy. I looked around for George and I spotted a small bald man in a plaid shirt sitting alone in a corner booth reading the paper. I walked up to the booth and sat down opposite him. He lowered the paper and looked at me with a startled expression and I was startled too. This was not George!
We looked at each other for a couple of brief seconds and I was at a loss for words. Finally, I formed the only words that came to me, and they were a model of stupidity.
"You're not George." I calmly said. He gave me a disgusted look and replied,
"No, I'm not." I apologized briefly and quickly got up and headed for the front door. Damn! I thought to myself, I haven't even started the trip yet and I am making a fool of myself already.
Before I reached the door, George was coming in. He had been sitting in his car waiting and he had seen me go in. We sat at the counter and I made some brief remark about the dumb stunt I had just pulled, but I don't think George even heard it.
The waitress came over and George said "Hi" to her. They seemed to know each other. We ordered a cup of coffee and George also ordered some pie. When she walked to get the order, George told me that he used to come in for breakfast all of the time so he had gotten to know her.
She returned with our order and George began to tell her about the cattle drive we were going on. She listened politely, but I do not think she really was interested. She did not ask about it but just told us to have a good time and then left to wait on other customers.
While we were drinking our coffee, George told me that he had been visited by an old friend from work who had told him exactly how to get where we were going. He said he would lead the way and I could follow him. I agreed to this because I was going to have to find it myself. If George had directions, so much the better.
George also asked if I had gotten any rain gear. When I said that I didn't, he said he had also gotten a poncho to wear, so if I wanted to borrow his other raincoat I was welcome to it. I thought this was nice of him so I thanked him and said maybe I would need it later and that I appreciated the offer. We were through with our coffee so we paid our bill and left.
7:15 a.m.
We drove out of Denny's with George leading the way, and it was still raining. In fact, it rained all the way to Marysville so the driving was a little slower than normal. As I drove along with the rain pelting against the windshield and water spraying up from the wheels of George's car, I wondered to myself if George really knew the way to get there. I decided it didn't matter. We were certainly early enough so if we went a little out of our way we would still get there ahead of time.
When we got into town, George took a couple of turns I was not familiar with and I wondered if he had gotten the directions straight, but soon enough we found ourselves on a road I recognized as the one leading to the gathering point. We made the turn onto the road the ranch was on. Just up that road we pulled directly into the Diamond S Ranch. We drove up and parked behind a few other cars parked in front of the ranch. It was 8:24 a.m. We were an hour and a half early.
|