You Meet the Most Interesting People While Sitting at a Bar, Especially in Durango, CO

The fact that the restaurant we went in to order a takeout was located in the historic Strater Hotel, and that this same hotel was hosting the annual Cowboy Poetry Convention just might be the reason why over half the patrons were dressed in their finest cowboy outfits, including a woman I sat next to at the bar while waiting for our order.

She said that she had ridden her horse here from Florida! I asked her where she slept and she said she had a sleeping bag and sometimes strangers would put her up or feed her. Now, I had a couple of dozen more questions, like what kind of roads she traveled on and how long did the trip take, did her horse get enough to eat, what she did for work, and where was her next destination, just for starters. I mean, I was practically salivating thinking abut the story I was onto.

However, before I could continue with my "interview" she caught the attention of the manager and asked him if she could bring her horse into the restaurant to have his picture taken. No kidding! At this point, my eyes are fixed on the manager, and I was mighty impressed by how cool he was. After only a second's pause he said he couldn't allow a horse into the restaurant, but that she could bring his head inside the door if someone was ready inside with a camera.

Just at that moment, the waitress arrived with our order, and another time it might not have mattered if we sat there for a while longer, but our takeout was a chocolate avalanche dessert that this restaurant is noted for, which among other sinful things, includes ice cream. So, there was nothing to do but hurry home and get it in the freezer for our after-dinner treat.

I guess it's a good thing I didn't pursue the profession I thought about in high school - a newspaper reporter. If it was dinner time, I probably would have missed the big scoop.